The Kid Project
by Fluobophone
Summary: She never thought she would be able to say she made friends in college. She never thought she would meet her brother again. She never thought she could find someone to love her. But because of one project, in one class, that half of them didn't even want to take, she did. Thanks to DemiSpy for letting me run with your idea!
1. Chapter 1: Intro

She never thought she would be able to say she made friends in college. She never thought she would meet her brother again. She never thought she could ever win custody over a child. She never thought she could find someone to love her. But all of those things happened. All because of one project, in one class, that half of them didn't even want to take.

It was the start to a new semester. The campus was full of students, all rushing to their classes. Éponine Jondrette was no exception. She was a junior Elementary Education Major. It was her second class of the day that she was currently walking to. She was excited for this one. She was taking it with one of her friends' father, Dr. Valjean. The class was Intro to Child Psychology. Her sister and her one friend, and roommate, Cosette, were in the class with her. As she walked into the medium sized classroom, she spotted Cosette and went to sit by her. Cosette nudged her boyfriend, Marius, who was on the other side of her, trying to get him to talk to the other girl. He quickly went back to talking to some of his friends who were on the other side of him. The ladies visited quietly as the room filled with students. Azelma came in and sat next to her sister. When the clock said eleven, Dr. Valjean came in. There were about forty students in the room.

"Welcome to Intro to Child Psych with Dr. Jean Valjean, that would be me, class number 246, section 01, at eleven o'clock, am. If this is not the class you are supposed to be in, please step out of the room before I pass out the attendance sheet." Dr. Valjean said. No students left. After he handed the sheet to the person in the back corner of the room, he went back to the front and grabbed a stack of syllabuses. He passed them out before once again going to the front of the room and turning on the overhead projector. He went through the syllabus, outlining test dates and what was required of us to pass. When he got to the last page, he smiled.

"This is my favorite part of this class, although many of you will hate the idea of it, you will come to love the assignment by the end of the term." He said. "The largest portion of this class is done outside of class. Many days, we will not even have class, as you will all be very tired. This project is also 75% of your grade. The final is only 10% and other tests are only 5%. The project is called The Kid Project. Each one of you will pair up, preferably with someone of the gender you are attracted to, whether that be the same or the opposite. You will get to choose, unless you need help, and then I will pair you up. You will move into a suite style dorm for the semester. I will pair you with a child from the local orphanage. You will be caring for this child for the entire semester. You will have funds from the school to do so. This is not only going to be one of the most valuable experiences for this class and learning about children, but it may be the most valuable experience of your entire college career and life. Caring for a child changes a person and their outlook of the world. You will all be new people at the end of the semester."

All of the students looked around the room, trying to figure out if the professor was joking or not. Then, when they realized he wasn't, some went on looking around for partners. Some stared at him in shock. One kid raised his hand. "Can we drop this class?"

Dr. Valjean nodded, but then spoke. "You can drop the class, if you wish, Mr. Grantaire. There will be no alternative assignment given, but, for many of you, this class is required of your major. The school has made it that way, as they have seen how this assignment works and changes the students. While taking the class, we have found that students do better in their other classes and go on to be more successful because of the responsibility and time management skills it forces you to have."

Éponine blanched. How was she supposed to take care of a kid when she couldn't even take care of herself? How was she supposed to work with another student she barely knew to take care of another human being?

"Class is dismissed, but if you have your partner chosen, you may come to the front and sign up for a meeting time with myself. You will have class on Wednesday, be on time, or don't come at all." Students started gathering their things. Éponine watched as a few couples went up and signed up for a meeting time. She glanced at Cosette and Marius, who were having a deep conversation.

"I'll see you later, Cosette." Éponine told her roommate that she probably wouldn't be rooming with for much longer.

"Wait, Éponine, I want to introduce you to the guys." Cosette called after her.

"Can it wait? I have another class to get to." Éponine said, trying to give an apologetic look.

"I guess, meet me at the Cafe Musain tonight at 7? They'll all be there then." Éponine nodded, and walked out with her sister, who was of the same major, just a year younger.

"So, what do you think of the assignment?" Azelma asked her older sister as they walked across the hall to their next two classes.

"I think I want to drop the class, but it's required for our major." Éponine responded. Azelma agreed and walked into her next class without her sister. Éponine continued until she got to her class.

That night, she arrived at the Musain, a local cafe where many of the college students went to do homework, a little before 7 with her sister. She looked around, but couldn't find Cosette or Marius. She went up to the register to ask if they frequented. The girl working the register gave her a funny look and said they were in the back room, like always. The Jondrette sisters thanked her and proceeded to the back room. When they got there, they found there were around twenty people there. Cosette quickly spotted the two women, and waved them over to where she was sitting with her boyfriend and some guys who looked familiar.

"Éponine!" Cosette squealed. "I'm so glad you could come! And you brought Azelma! Yay!" She said, obviously having a little too much energy, as she jumped over to them and hugged her roommate and Azelma. "I would like you both to meet some people." She led them over to the table, where two guys pulled out chairs for the new-comers and Cosette easily slid into hers again.

"This is Marius Pontmercy. Éponine, you met him this morning, but Azelma, he is my boyfriend. He is studying law." The blonde girl said to the pair, hooking her arm and laying her head on the man to her rights shoulder. He had light brown hair, with tints of red in it, bright green eyes, and freckles on his cheeks. He was cute, but in more of a boyish way, Éponine thought to herself. "That is Antoine Courfeyrac, but we just call him Courf." Cosette said, pointing and the next man, sitting next to Marius. He had a pudgy, but very fun looking face and many dark curls on his head, with equally as dark eyes. He was also dressed very nicely. "He is studying law as well." Cosette said.

"Next is Jean Prouvaire, or Jehan. He is studying to be an writer. Next to him is his boyfriend, Henri Grantaire, sometimes just Grant or R. He is going to be an artist." Cosette introduced the next two men. Jehan had a light complexion and sandy blonde hair. His eyes were sky blue and looked somewhat dazed. He had a legal pad with many hardly legible scribbles covering it. Grantaire looked more like Courf, but had much sharper features. His hair was even darker, but had light brown eyes. He was the one who had asked if he could drop Cosette's dad's class this morning. He was sketching on his boyfriend's pad, but Jehan didn't seem to mind.

"The last one is Gabriel Enjolras. He is studying law in hopes of becoming a social justice lawyer." Cosette explained.

"Just call me Enjolras." The man with blonde curls, bright blue eyes, and a very strong jawline, said to the ladies. "I do not like my given name." He explained. The girls nodded.

"And boys, this is Éponine and Azelma Jondrette. They are both majoring in Elementary Education, but Azelma is a year younger than Éponine and I." She said to the guys. They all said hello. "All of the guys are a year older than us, Éponine, but all of them at this table are in our Child Psych class. We were just talking about the assignment my dad gave us."

"I think it's ridiculous and we shouldn't have to do the project to graduate." Grantaire said.

"Cheer up, we can do it together!" His boyfriend responded. "It'll be fun. It'll be like…"

"Like you're already living with each other and have a child?" Enjolras finished for him. "Like you're domesticated?" He added.

"I guess you aren't too keen on the idea, Enjolras." Éponine said.

He shook his head. "I don't mind the idea. Helping the children in the orphanage have at least one semester of love and fun is a great idea, I just don't like the idea of it being a group project. At least he's open to couples doing it together, regardless of type."

Éponine nodded as Cosette said, "He knows many of you already. He is very accepting and wants people to succeed in everything they do. Requiring a student to live with another for a whole semester, especially one with a partner, of either gender, would probably not go over so well for a relationship." The whole table thought about this, and realized it was true, and that Dr. Valjean did have some very nice things going for him. "But, the rest of you need to find partners! Obviously, Marius and I are doing the project together, we already signed up for a meeting time. What about Jehan and R? Are you going to do it together?"

"Yes." Jehan answered, glaring at Grantaire. "Whether he wants to or not, we are going to pass this class."

"Wonderful! Now for the rest of you… Any idea who you're going to work with?" Cosette asked Éponine, Azelma, Enjolras, and Courfeyrac.

"Hey, Azelma. Would you be willing to do the project with me? I don't know any other girls in the class, besides you two." Éponine had noticed Azelma and Courfeyrac eyeing each other since they walked into the back room of the cafe.

Azelma nodded, somewhat shyly. "Yeah, that sounds fun." Cosette clapped her hands before looking to Éponine. Éponine shrugged back. She glanced around the table. The only other person left was Enjolras. He was too beautiful. He looked like he was sculpted by angels, and that was just what she could see through his red jacket and jeans. He looked to have very muscular arms, and she just could not get over that jaw line…

"Éponine? Hello, anyone home?" She jerked her attention back to the conversation. Cosette had been trying to get her attention.

"What? Sorry, I spaced off. What were you saying?" Éponine asked the other girl.

"I was just suggesting that you and Enjolras do the project together."

"Oh, I don't know…" Éponine started to say.

"I think that's a good idea, Cosette. I don't know many girls, much less in our class. What do you say, Éponine? Unless you have someone else in mind?" Enjolras said.

Éponine shook her head. "Well, then. It's settled. We all have partners now, and can all sign up for our meetings! I'm so excited! Maybe we can get rooms next to each other! Or at least nearby one another. We are going to have so much fun." Cosette gushed. They spent the rest of the night in each other's company before they all split off to go back to their dorms. Luckily, most students stayed on campus all four years, so they had already paid for their housing, they just had to switch dorms for the project. But even living on campus, Marius, Enjolras, and Courfeyrac insisted on walking their partners back to their current dorms. It was a nice way for the Jondrette sisters to get to know the person they were going to be living with for the next few months.

* * *

**AN: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of The Kid Project. If you are here because you read any of my other stories, I hope you enjoy this one more. I really like this plot, story, and set of characters. **

**Disclaimers for the story go HERE - Obviously, the characters don't belong to me. Victor Hugo, who created the Les Miserables book, and then everyone who has helped in creating every musical and movie after that get much more credit than I will ever deserve. I also got the idea of the project from another Fanfiction story I read a while ago. If you would like to read that one, it is in the Maximum Ride Universe, and I will put the link on my page. I got permission by the writer of said story, DemiSpy, to use her wonderful idea. I cannot thank her enough! So, DemiSpy, if you are reading this, thanks a bunch!**

**Just a warning, this is going to be a fairly long story. Like my other chaptered story, I like to prewrite most, if not the whole story before begin publishing. As of now, I am not totally finished, but I'm reaching the climax, and it is a little more than fifty single-spaced pages on Google Docs. The rating is going to start off as T, but I may have to up it to M for a couple of chapters. I might just put trigger warnings in, however.**

**I don't really normally read ANs for stories I read, so the rest of them will not be this long, hopefully. I'll be posting once a week until it is finished. Read and Review, my darlings, and I'll see you next week!**


	2. Chapter 2: Gavroche

The next day, as Éponine was leaving her last class before lunch, she heard a voice calling for her. She quickly glanced around and saw Enjolras. She waited for him to catch up with her. When he did, he asked her if she had time to go sign up for a meeting with Dr. Valjean. She responded in the affirmative and they walked to the education building, where his office was. They signed up for a time two days later.

"Éponine, would you like to get a coffee with me?" Enjolras asked her as the pair was leaving the building. She nodded and they walked to the Musain. They chatted over coffee and lunch. They got to know each other a little better before Éponine looked at the time and realized she had another class to get to.

"I'm sorry, but I need to get going. I have another class this afternoon." She told the man sitting across from her.

He nodded, and stood up. "I'll walk you there. I'm finished for the day." And he did. When they got to her next class, he told her, "I hope you can come to the Musain tonight. We meet in that back room every night. It's like a club of sorts. Bring your sister, if you wish."

"I will. See you later, Enjolras." The girl said before walking into her class. She was still entranced by his chiseled features, but was also very intrigued by his personality. As Cosette told her, he was studying law, in hopes to someday work as a social justice lawyer. He wanted to help the common people and get justice for the ones whose voices couldn't be heard. He had all these wonderful ideals and knew what he wanted. She was still a little leary of living with someone, or two someones, that she didn't really know. She didn't want anyone, besides Azelma, to have to expect something from her. She didn't want to have to open up to anyone.

The next few days went wonderfully. Éponine and Azelma went to the Musain with the rest of Les Amis de ABC, as they called themselves. They met some more of the regulars, including Combeferre, another law student and Enjolras' best friend, Joly, a biology major hoping to get into medical school after he was done, Musichetta, the owner of Cafe Musain, and Bousset, a criminal justice major. Everyone was getting along very nicely. They went to class during the day. Wednesday, during Dr. Valjean's class, they discussed the project more, and were assigned some reading from their textbook. When Thursday came along, Éponine was surprisingly calm and ready for the meeting with Dr. Valjean and Enjolras.

Enjolras came and picked her up from her class before walking with her to his office. The pair had become fast friends, and while Éponine still didn't like the idea of living with someone else, he eased her mind. She figured if it had to be anyone, it might as well be him. They were chatting and laughing until they got to their professors door. When they knocked and walked into the office, Éponine immediately froze.

"Éponine, are you alright?" Enjolras asked her, noticing her weird behavior. When she didn't answer, he looked at his professor, and then to the little boy sitting in the third chair in front of the desk. Enjolras gave a questioning glance at Valjean. The professor just shrugged.

"Ms. Jondrette, Mr. Enjolras, please sit." The professor said. Enjolras helped the woman do so, before sitting down himself. "This is Gavroche Thenardier. He is the boy who you will be taking care of this semester. Gavroche, this is Gabriel Enjolras and Éponine Jondrette. Now, if Ms. Jondrette would regain her composure, we could begin the meeting."

Éponine realized she needed to get it together. None of the males in the room needed to know about the burden that is her past, at least not yet. She tried her best to be professional. "Of course, I don't know what came over me, Professor. We can continue now."

"Okay. Well then. This meeting is partially for you all to meet each other, and partially for Éponine and Enjolras to make sure they understand the assignment before being thrown into it. Gavroche, if at anytime you get bored, you may go over to the play corner I showed you earlier and entertain yourself." The boy nodded, but Éponine could tell he thought he was too old for the play corner.

"Gavroche, would you like to introduce yourself, or would you like me to do so?" The professor asked the boy.

"I'm Gavroche. My friends call me Gav. I'm eight years old and was thrown out by my parents when I was three. I've lived in the orphanage ever since then. I go to school at Lincoln Elementary School and am in third grade. I like to play soccer and when I can get the TV, I like to watch any sports." The boy said, in a surprisingly strong voice. He looked to the professor for approval.

"Very well done, Gavroche. You only forgot one thing." Gavroche gave him a weird look. "What's your favorite color?"

Gavroche gave him an are-you-serious kind of expression, but when the professor gave him an expectant look he said, "And my favorite color is red." Éponine snuck a glance at Enjolras, who smiled at the boy.

"You two will get along great." Éponine said, turning back to the boy to smile at him, as well. The boy grinned when Enjolras pointed to his red jacket.

"You two will be expected to introduce yourselves in a similar manner later on, but now we are going to discuss how the project is to be graded and how you will be going about this semester." The students nodded for him to continue. "The two of you will move into Clarence 256 on Saturday of this week. Then on Sunday, you and all of your classmates will come and get your children and move them in. Each of the three of you will get your own bedroom, share a living room and kitchen, and there are two bathrooms in the suite.

"Éponine and Enjolras, you will be in charge of Gavroche. You are to make sure he gets fed, bathes, and has clothes and toys. You will also make sure he goes to school and does his homework. He is never to be left alone in the dorm. One of you will walk him to and from school, and one of you will always be in the dorm if he is there. Mostly, you are to ensure he is safe and happy living with the two of you. As I mentioned in class, you will have university funds to spend. You will receive a class credit card. You may spend it accordingly. The only catch is, you have to log every purchase made with it here." He set a ledger down in front of the two college students. "You have to write what was purchased, where it was purchased, how much it cost, and why it is necessary to the project. Every purchase that I deem inappropriate, you will be paying back at the end of the semester. Also, you are to ensure his happiness, not spoil him. If you are spending too much on toys and junk food, you will pay that back as well."

The professor turned to Gavroche at this time. "If you ever feel unhappy, you are to write it in this notebook. Remember how we talked about journaling?" He asked the boy, as he handed him a red, leather notebook. The boy nodded. "Your responses in this book will help determine Éponine and Enjolras' grade. So if they are doing a bad job, write it in here. If they are doing a good job write that in here. If you ever feel unsafe, my phone number is in the front cover, and you must call me immediately, no matter what time of day or night." He turned back to the college students. "You are never allowed to read, change, or influence him while he is writing. If he is writing in the book, he is to be left alone. Do you understand?"

They both nodded. "Good, then I think we are done here. If the three of you would like to step outside and chat for a while, that would be okay. I think my next students should be arriving shortly.

The three students did as the professor suggested. There was a small lobby right outside of his office. When they exited, they saw another little boy with a woman waiting to go in. Éponine recognized her as Cosette's mother, Mrs. Fantine Valjean. They switched places, and the three sat down. Éponine nodded to Enjolras to go first. "Well, Gavroche. I'm Gabriel Enjolras, as Dr. Valjean said. I prefer to go by my last name, however. Just Enjolras is just fine. I am here studying law. I am in my fourth year, so I will graduate this year and go on to another law school. I am twenty-two. I like to debate and read, when I'm not with my friends at the Cafe Musain. I also like the color red." He then looked at Éponine.

"Good job, Enjolras. I'm so proud of you." The woman gushed, making fun of him. He stuck his tongue out at her. "Anyways, I am Éponine Jondrette. I'm not weird and you can call me by my first name, if you wish. I am studying to be an elementary teacher. I am twenty-one and in my third year of studies. I also like to read. I tend to work a lot at The Corinthe, which is a diner on campus. I came from a rough family and am on a fairly big scholarship to come to school here, but I still need to work to pay for some of my books and things. My favorite color is bright blue." Both of the boys nodded. It was awkwardly silent for a few moments before Enjolras spoke.

"If you have any questions or concerns, just let us know, okay bud?"

Gavroche nodded. Then he asked, "Are you guys dating?" Enjolras blushed, while Éponine laughed.

"No, we just recently met, actually. Through my friend, Cosette. She introduced us since we were in the same class and then we decided to be partners for the assignment." She said.

"Oh." Gavroche said, somewhat sadly.

"Why? Do we seem like a couple?" Enjolras asked. Éponine glared at him before turning back and smiling at Gavroche.

"A little." He said, looking at the ground.

Éponine gasped. "You wanted us to be like real parents for you, didn't you?" She said, realizing why the boy was sad. He froze a second, before nodding slowly.

"We will try our best to be like parents to you, Gav, but we aren't actually together, is that okay? We can still do everything that parents do, just not be your actual parents." Enjolras tried to save.

"Good, I don't want you to be my actual parents. They sent a three year old packing! Who does that?" The boy said, seeming to perk up and Enjolras' statement. The two older students smiled sadly at him. Then, two friendly faces came around the corner.

"Hey, Éponine, Enjolras. Who is this?" Courfeyrac said.

"This is the kid we will be taking care of this semester." Enjolras said, standing up to give Azelma a place to sit. "Gavroche, meet our friend Antoine Courfeyrac, and Éponine's sister, Azelma Jondrette. Azelma and Courf, meet Gavroche." Gavroche stood up, like Enjolras, and shook Courfeyrac's hand, like Enjolras had done. He then smiled at Azelma before sitting back down.

"So does this mean we will get to meet our kid?" Azelma asked.

"That sounds kind of strange, but yes, he's in there right now, talking to Dr. Valjean." Éponine said.

"You know what I meant, 'Ponine. I'm so excited!" Her sister said. Just then, the Mrs. Fantine walked out of the office.

"Gavroche, are you ready to leave?"

"Yes, Miss Fantine." The boy nodded, stood, and walked over to her. Then he turned back to the students.

"It was nice to meet you all. I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday." Gavroche said, in a very formal manner, before taking the woman's hand and walking away.

"He seems like a good kid." Courf said. "I hope ours is just as polite."

"Mr. Courfeyrac and Ms. Jondrette, the younger, are you ready?" Dr. Valjean said, sticking his head out the door. The two got up and went into the office, disappearing from Éponine and Enjolras' view.

"So, what happened at the beginning of the meeting, Éponine?" Enjolras questioned, when no one else was left in the hallway.

Éponine froze again. She had almost forgot. "I'd rather not talk about it right now. Maybe I'll tell you someday." She said, with a coy smile, trying her best at acting. It seemed to work.

"Okay. I'll be waiting. Would you like to grab lunch before your next class?" He asked, dropping the subject.

"That sounds excellent." They pair stood up and left the building.

* * *

**AN: So, now Gavroche is here. Isn't he adorable? I think he is. Also, this chapter is fairly important in terms of plot. Most of them are, but this one kind of starts it all off. **

**How are y'all feeling this week? I'm feeling very stressed. I also got asked on a date today by a good friend of mine. The thing is, I don't want to date him... But I don't want to end our friendship, either. Any other girls, or guys, out there feeling that way this week? Let me know how you are handling your situations. Hearing other people's stress is actually very calming to me, currently.**

**As always, read, review, PM, email, send a letter or carrier pigeon. Let me know what you think! Good, bad, ugly. I love hearing from you all! See you next week with the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3: Move In

The rest of the week went by quickly. In Dr. Valjean's class on Friday, the students were all buzzing about meeting their kids. Éponine learned that Azelma and Courf's boy's name was Julien. He was six and had a twin sister named Hillaire, who was staying with Jehan and R for the semester. They were staying in Clarence 258 and 260, respectively. Cosette and Marius had an eight year old girl named Rachelle. They were going to be in 254. The students all really liked meeting the children and were excited to move them in on Sunday. All hesitation was gone. The only exception was Éponine. While she pretended to be excited with the rest of her friends, she was still nervous.

The next day, Enjolras brought his car to the loading dock outside of Éponine's dorm. Since Éponine didn't have a car, Enjolras had offered to help her move her things. He helped her move her things down the elevator and into the car, joining his things, before driving off to Clarence. It was only a few streets away, but still too far to carry everything. When they arrived, they each grabbed as much as they could carry in the first load, not minding whose things they grabbed. Enjolras had his key out before Éponine, so he unlocked the door to their home for the semester. Éponine hadn't actually been in this particular dorm before, as it was fairly new. She was astounded by how modern and well-kept it looked. It looked like a regular apartment. Right inside the door was a large living room, including a couch, a loveseat, and a recliner, all facing a flat screen TV. Off to the right was a kitchenette. There was a long counter with a microwave, drawers underneath, cabinets above, and a refrigerator/freezer. Behind the kitchenette was a small hallway with a bedroom and a bathroom. Off to the left side, there was another short hallway, this one having two bedrooms and a bathroom, as promised. Each bedroom had a single bed, a desk, a closet, and a dresser. Each bathroom had a small closet, a toilet, a shower/tub, and a counter with a sink and a mirror above it. After the pair had explored the dorm, they decided to go back down to the car to get the rest of their things.

When they came back up, the car being empty, Enjolras said to her, "I think you can probably take the right side bedroom, that way you can have your own bathroom. Gavroche and I can share." She nodded and thanked him before walking off to her new room with a few of her boxes. As she began to put things away, she noticed a that her bathroom closet also housed cleaning supplies, such as a vacuum. She continued putting her things in their new places until she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

"Would you like to come with me to get some food? It's nearly seven and we should probably eat dinner." She agreed and finished the box she was working on before following him out the door to his car. They decided to eat at Noodles &amp; Co. When they got back home, they finished unpacking and then met each other in the living room. Enjolras turned on the news.

"How much do you think Gav will have? Will we have to buy him much clothes and such?" Éponine asked after a few minutes. Enjolras turned to listen to her.

"Umm, I'm not sure. After we pick him up and get what he has moved in, we could take him shopping. We should also buy some food for the kitchen so that we can cook instead of trekking to the dining center or eating out." She nodded, and he went back to the news. That is, until they heard a knock at the door. Éponine got up to get it.

"Éponine!" The blonde girl screamed, throwing her arms around her former roommate.

"Hi, Cosette. Are the two of you all moved in?" Éponine asked.

"Yes, we wanted to invite the two of you and Gavroche to a party tomorrow night in our room. We will make dinner for everyone and the kids can play and we can hang out, like we normally do at the Musain, just without the alcohol." She said, as her and her boyfriend came to take a seat by Enjolras. Éponine closed the door and followed.

"That sounds like a good idea. What do you say, Éponine?" Enjolras responded.

"Umm, yeah. Sure. Whatever." She said. Enjolras looked at her, an eyebrow quirked, as if to ask what was wrong. She just shrugged it off.

"Great!" Cosette said. "Do you love your new room? This dorm is be-a-u-tiful!" Éponine nodded. She mostly just sat back and listened as the other three students conversed. At around ten, Cosette and Marius left to go back to their own room.

"Éponine, are you okay?" Enjolras asked her, as he closed the door behind the couple.

"Yeah, I'm just tired. Moving in was tiring. I think I'll head to bed now. We will have another busy day tomorrow."

"Okay then, good night." He said. She walked to her room without another word.

Éponine did not sleep well that night. She was very anxious for the next day and having Gavroche move in. Every time she almost got to sleep, she would see the boy, or her parents, and jerk upright in her bed.

When morning finally did come, she got up first. She showered and got ready. She then took a textbook out to the living room to get some homework done before she would go to breakfast with Enjolras. Even after three years, she didn't feel comfortable eating at the dining center alone. When he finally came out, they went to eat. Not too long after they got back, they heard a knock on the door of their dorm. Enjolras answered it, this time.

"We thought we might all go down and get the kids together. You know, safety in numbers." Courfeyrac said. Éponine could see Azelma, Cosette, Marius, Jehan, and Grantaire behind him.

"Yeah. Sure." Enjolras responded, after a look of approval from Éponine.

They decided to walk, as it wasn't too far, and he probably didn't have much to bring with him. The girls walked ahead of the guys. They could hear some rustling and laughter behind them, but decided to ignore it. When they arrived at the education building, there were dozens of children standing out front with Dr. Valjean and his wife, who ran the orphanage. Cosette ran up to her parents. She hugged her mother and kissed her father on his cheek. Marius, seeing the two elders, came up and stood with his girlfriend and her parents, exchanging pleasantries. The rest of the students stood somewhat awkwardly until Enjolras felt a pull on his leg.

"Hello, Enjolras. How are you today?" Gavroche said, looking up at the man.

Enjolras smiled before responding, "I'm doing well. And yourself? Are you already to go? Anyone you would like to talk to before we go?"

The boy shook his head before saying, "I think we have to checkout with Miss Fantine. She's so concerned about us getting lost out here. Says the campus is a scary place without an adult." Éponine laughed as she walked over to the boys.

"Isn't that the truth! Enjolras hardly trusts me to walk by myself!" Enjolras blushed at this, but admitted it as truth.

Three other kids came up behind Gavroche at that point. There were two girls and one boy. The older looking girl jumped on his back. Gav caught her easily, but turned his head around to look at her. "Rachelle! Don't do that! You scared me." The boy said, before realizing none of the older students knew his friends. Letting her down he introduced her, "Enjolras, Éponine, this is Rachelle Monette. She is eight, like me. Rachelle, this is Éponine Jondrette and Gabriel Enjolras. They are who I will be staying with." Rachelle gave a little curtsy. Enjolras took her hand, and kissed it, making her giggle as he winked at her.

"Rachelle, who are you staying with?" Éponine asked the girl.

"Miss Fantine's daughter, Miss Cosette, and her boyfriend, Monsieur Marius." She responded.

"Oh, they are right over there, talking to Miss Fantine." The woman pointed for the young girl. The girl nodded, but stayed where she was.

"This is Hillaire and Julien Gardinier. They are six-year old twins." Gavroche introduced the other two children. Hillaire curtsied, like she had seen Rachelle do, and Julien shook each older student's hand. Enjolras kissed Hillaire's hand, as well, but she went and hid behind Gavroche afterwards. "Hillaire's really shy. Me an' Rachelle take care of these two, we do. Their mama died giving birth to them and their papa didn' want them, so they wound up at the orphanage. They were there before even I was!" Gavroche said while trying to coax the younger girl out from behind him.

"And who are the two of you staying with, do you know?" Éponine asked.

"I'm staying with Monsieur Courfeyrac and Miss Azelma." Julien said. "Hillaire is staying with Monsieurs Jehan and Grantaire."

"Well, it looks like you won't get split up too much. Azelma is my sister and the rest of them are all friends with us. You will get to play together lots." Éponine said, before turning to her friends. "Zel, bring the guys over here. All of your kids are over here." Her sister did as she asked, and the other students quickly found their children. Éponine could already tell that Hillaire was going to get doted on hand and foot while staying with R and Jehan. They already adored her. And Julien would be in fine hands with Azelma and Courf. Courf would make sure he was always laughing and having fun, while Zel would make sure it was all in moderation with his necessities and homework, for the both of them. Rachelle, seeing that her friends were all happy and settled, skipped over to the Cosette, Marius, Dr. Valjean, and Miss Fantine. Upon seeing the little girl, Marius scooped her up into a hug. She giggled and yelped for him to put her down. When he did, Cosette leaned down to hug her as well. They all had giant smiles on their faces, even Valjean and Fantine.

"Are we ready to go? Gavroche, do you have your things?" Enjolras asked. The boy nodded, but then put a finger up, signifying he needed a second before leaving. He said goodbye to the twins and then ran over to Rachelle. Éponine and Enjolras watched as he said goodbye and the two friends hugged. When they pulled away, Rachelle leaned over and kissed his cheek, saying she would see him soon. Gavroche's face turned bright red, but he turned and walked back to the older students waiting for him nonetheless. Éponine was trying to to laugh and could tell Enjolras was doing the same.

"I'm ready now. Let's go home." Gavroche said, still blushing, but gathering his suitcase and backpack.

**AN: Hey all! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks so much for the reviews! I hope this doesn't do weird fomatting things since I'm on my laptop and not my iPad. **

**To the guest, Smithy, who helped me with my boy issues. They still haven't been resolved, but put on the back burner and are not really an issue currently. I had a very busy, but fairly good day today. I got to teach a trumpet lesson (I'm a woodwind player) so that was interesting, and I have a concert tomorrow that I'm really excited for. **

**If anyone is actually reading this part still, review and tell me what instrument, or part you sing, or which is your fave instrument or one you would like to play. I just want to do little experiments to see if people, even a year from now, who read this story still read the ANs or just skip over them. Either is fine, I just find it interesting. Read on and review! A new update will come next week!**


	4. Chapter 4: A Place to Call Home

It was an uneventful walk back to the dorm. Enjolras carried the boy's suitcase up the one flight of stairs and Éponine unlocked the door before standing in front of it.

"Gavroche, are you ready to see your home for the semester?" She asked, trying to add suspense. He nodded, excitedly. She stepped back and opened the door for him to walk through. The look of wonder on the boy's face was priceless.

"Éponine, this place is beautiful! And it's so big!" He said. "How could you ever think of filling all of it up with things?" She smiled a sad smile as Enjolras walked in.

"You ready to see your room, buddy?" He asked.

"Wait, I get my own room? Like, a room to myself?" The young boy asked.

Enjolras nodded. "This way, Monsieur." He said, very formally. Gavroche chuckled, but followed Enjolras. Éponine closed the door and followed the boys. Enjolras pointed to the door that was Gavroche's, the one on the left in the left side hallway, telling him he could open it. Once again, the look on Gavroche's face was priceless. He was in awe with the size of his new room. Then, he snapped out of his state of wonder, dropped his backpack, got a running start, and jumped onto the bed.

"Ahhhh." The boy said in contentment. Enjolras put the suitcase and he and Éponine sat on either side of the bed.

"Do you like it?" Éponine asked.

"Absolutely! It's so wonderful! And big! And my own!" The boy responded.

After a few moments of letting him enjoy his new room, Éponine said, "Okay. How about you unpack your suitcase, hang your backpack up, and then we will go shopping."

"For what?" Gavroche asked, sitting up and looking at Éponine weirdly.

"Whatever you need, silly! And also food. We haven't stocked the kitchen yet." She said, ruffling his hair. "Enjolras will help you unpack, if you wish. I'm going to go start a grocery list. Come get me when you're done unpacking so we can add things you need to the list." She said, before standing up and walking to the kitchenette, pulling out her phone, and starting a shopping list.

Not too long later, the boys came and got her. They added somethings to the list, like more clothes and his own toothpaste and shampoo, since he didn't have any kids to share with here, before they set off down to Enjolras' car to go to Target.

At Target, they started with clothes for Gavroche. He mostly had too small, winter clothes. They got him some shorts, t-shirts, and new socks. When Enjolras said he should probably get some new boxers, Gavroche said he couldn't say that word in front of Éponine. She laughed, but pretended to look at some t-shirts they had already looked through while they found some. The trio then proceeded to the toiletries. Gavroche picked out Spiderman shampoo and a red toothbrush and toothpaste with the Avengers pictured on both. Upon seeing these choices, they took him back to the toy section.

As Gavroche looked around, Enjolras turned to Éponine. "I think I have an idea. Watch him for a little bit, and I'll meet you guys in the food section in ten minutes?"

"Yeah, I'll let him pick out two things from here before we head over." She responded. Enjolras walked away and Éponine went to find the boy. He was looking at the Legos. "See anything you like?" The woman asked.

"All of it! Éponine, I love this place!" He said, while reaching in an example box and pressing a button that made a dinosaur move inside. She chuckled at his response.

"Well, Enjolras and I decided you can pick two of your favorites. They each have to be $20 or less, though."

The boy's eyes widened as he looked up at her. "Really? You're not tricking me are you?" He asked in disbelief. When she shook her head, he jumped in the air, thrusting his fist up. "Woohoo!" He started checking prices before settling on a little car with the Joker and Iron Man themed Lego set.

"You like the super heroes, don't you?" She asked him when he brought the two toys to her. He nodded quickly. "Ready to go get food?" She asked. When he nodded again, she put the two toys in the cart as Gavroche climbed onto the back so that Éponine could push him.

As they approached the food section, Éponine spotted Enjolras walking towards them with something in his hand, which he quickly hid behind his back. She waved at him, causing Gavroche to turn around and look at him. They boy jumped off the cart and ran to the older man. "Come look what I picked out! Éponine said I could pick two!" He said excitedly. He showed Enjolras the two toys as Enjolras sneakily handed Éponine two video game cases. She turned around and looked at them quickly. One was LEGO: Marvel and the other was Minecraft, both for XBOX 360, which Enjolras already had back at the dorm. She turned back around and nodded at him, hiding the two games beneath some of the clothes they were going to purchase.

They went around getting food. Neither could really cook, but Éponine had already decided on a few recipes she wanted to try, and purchased the ingredients for them, as well as plenty of microwavables. By the time they reached the cash register, they had a very full cart. Gavroche helped Éponine unload the cart onto the conveyor belt, but she was sure to reach the games and hand them back to Enjolras before the boy could see. He took them to another counter and checked out before Éponine even paid. She used the school credit card. Gavroche rode on the cart on the way out to the car, again, and helped the older students unload the bags into the back of the car before they all climbed in to drive back home.

Once all of the bags were sitting in the kitchen, Éponine handed Gavroche the ones with his clothes in it and told him to go put them away in his dresser. As the boy ran off, she and Enjolras quickly searched for the games. When they found them, Éponine ran them into her room. She wrapped them to give them to Gavroche as a "house-warming" gift tonight after the party. When she came back out, she found Enjolras had put much of the food away. She grabbed a book she was working out of off the counter, and plopped down on the couch to continue her other homework.

After about five minutes, Gavroche came out with his Lego set. "Will you help me set it up?" He asked the two. Éponine looked up at him and then at Enjolras. He just smiled back at her.

"I guess we could do that. I've never used Legos before, to be honest." She responded.

Enjolras looked at her incredulously. "You've never played with Legos?" He asked.

"Nope."

"You have been deprived your whole life. Gavroche, rip that box open. We are going to show this girl what Legos are all about." The boy laughed as he did as instructed. They all sat down on the floor in between the furniture. The boys pushed the coffee table towards the TV so they would have more room. Gavroche was sat in between Éponine and Enjolras, who were facing each other. When they dumped the pieces out onto the floor, they were slightly disappointed.

"Is this it? This is all it came with?" Éponine asked, picking up a very strange looking piece. It was sort of triangular, but not all the way a pyramid.

"Yep. I think I have more at home. Maybe I can have my parents bring them up sometime." Enjolras responded, picking up the instructions. "Do you want to build what the instructions tell you to build, or make up your own design?" He asked the boy.

Gavroche thought about it for a moment, before responding, "I think we should follow the directions, and then we can tear it apart and build something else!" Enjolras nodded. The boys got to work, but Éponine felt kind of left out, so she climbed back onto the couch to continue her work.

As it reached six, Éponine jumped up. "Is everything okay?" Enjolras asked her.

"Yeah, but did we get anything to take to Cosette and Marius' tonight? We can't just come empty handed!" She said, walking over to the kitchen to rifle through the food they bought earlier in the day.

"Umm, I bet they wouldn't mind…" He said. When she turned to glare at him, he continued. "But I think we bought a package or two of cookies. We could take those?" He suggested, just wanting her to stop glaring at him. She did and quickly found the cookies on a higher shelf, so Gavroche couldn't get to them unless he was allowed to. One was regular chocolate chip, and the other was chocolate with white chocolate chips. She decided to take the regular ones.

"Are you boys almost ready? You've been playing with those Legos for almost two hours!" She asked, walking back towards the living room area. Enjolras' head flipped up to look at the clock.

"Yeah, we will just clean up quick. Gav, you want to take these to your room? We can get you a bin for them soon." They put all the Legos back in the box they came in, which was now ripped, and Gavroche hurried them into his room.

"Did you have fun this afternoon, Gabey?" Éponine asked Enjolras in a baby voice, teasing him for playing with toys all day.

"As a matter of fact, I did. I haven't played with Legos or relaxed like that in a long time. Did you get a lot of your homework done?" He responded.

"Yeah. I did. I bet you'll do a lot of relaxing this semester, especially if Gavroche has anything to say about it." She joked as the boy came back out of the hallway where the boys' rooms were.

"I'm ready!" Gavroche said. Éponine ruffled his hair before grabbing her keys off the hook by the door and opening it.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you liked that installment! I just love this chapter. I think it's really cute and I like the dynamic between the three. I don't really have a lot to say this week. I'm just so exhausted. I apologize for not updating last week. I kept meaning to, but then when I got to my room, I would get busy with other things. I didn't get a whole lot of response to the last A/N, but I'll keep writing them. If nothing else, it's a time for me to vent and no one will even know. This week, the question is, what is your favorite musical? Besides Les Mis, of course. Read and review and do all that fun stuff! See ya babes next week!**

**Also, sorry to those who tried to read this right away. Somehow, it added all of this coding stuff that I don't understand. I hope this fixes it!**


	5. Chapter 5: House Party

They walked over to room 254, knocked, and were greeted by a bubbly Cosette.

"Éponine! I miss you! Even though we just saw each other this afternoon, it's sad not being roommates!" She squealed, launching herself at the brunette. Éponine laughed and hugged her back. When the blonde pulled out of the hug, she squealed again. "Enjolras! Gavroche! How are you? Gavroche, I've already heard a lot about you from Rachelle." Gavroche blushed as Éponine and Enjolras smirked at him.

"Cos, are you going to let them in? Or just talk in the hallway all night?" The four heard Marius say from the inside of the apartment.

"Oh, right. Come on in!" She said, stepping aside. The three came in, noticing they were the first ones there. Rachelle was sitting on the floor of the living room, reading a book. When she heard the trio come in, she looked up, threw her book down, and ran up to Gavroche. She jumped onto him, her arms around his neck, legs around his hips. It looked as though she did this often, as he caught her easily.

"Rachelle! What did I tell you about that?" He scolded her, after putting her down.

"Don't lie. You'll always catch me." She responded, taking his hand and leading him over to the two person couch she was sitting on. The older students looked down at the kids knowingly. Enjolras went over to the kitchen to set the cookies down. Éponine and Cosette followed. The men shook hands, while Éponine hugged Marius, before the three who weren't cooking sat down at the table.

"Marius, what are you making for dinner?" Éponine asked him.

"Mac 'n Cheese and Hot Dogs. I figured all the kids would like that, know that all of the 'adults' do, and it was easy." He responded. They heard another knock at the door, and Cosette got up to answer it, being the good hostess that she was. In came Jehan, Grantaire, and Hillaire. Grantaire had been carrying the six year old, and she was clutching to him, even as he let her down. Gavroche came over and hugged her. She took his hand and followed him over to the couch. Éponine saw him sit her in between himself and Rachelle as they talked and read Rachelle's book together. The men came over and shook the other's hands, and hugged the women, before leaning against the wall. Jehan set a bag of chips and a container of spinach dip on the table next to the cookies Éponine brought. They all talked for a while, waiting for Azelma, Courfeyrac, and Julien to arrive. Once they did, Julien went to sit with his sister and friends, while the older two came into the kitchen. Azelma set down a pan of brownies on the table, before sitting down at the chair Enjolras had just vacated for her, being ever the gentleman.

Soon after, Marius said it was time to eat. Cosette went into the bedrooms and came back with three extra desk chairs, so that more people could sit around the table to eat. They helped the children get their food first and sat them down at the table, before filling plates of their own. Jehan and Azelma opted to sit at the table with the kids while the rest of the adults sat in the living room. Marius, Cosette, and Courfeyrac were on the couch, Grantaire sat on the chair, so that left Éponine and Enjolras on the two-seater. They had a wonderful time chatting with each other. Everyone seemed to have a good weekend and loved their rooms. Azelma, Courfeyrac, and Julien had gone on a walk around campus, while Cosette, Marius, and Rachelle had gone to Hy-Vee to get food for the party. Jehan, Grantaire, and Hillaire had just come back to the dorm and spent the day playing Wii. Jehan had gone and gotten a Disney Princess dress up game, as well as Just Dance, Disney Version, for them to play. Grantaire said he had a little too much Disney in his system, which Cosette scoffed at and said you could never have too much Disney.

When everyone had finished eating, the kids, Azelma, and Jehan came into the living room to join in the conversation. Marius had a Playstation with Mario Kart, which kept the kids occupied while the adults talked. Azelma sat on the floor in front of the couch, with Courf's legs behind her. Jehan opted to sit on his boyfriend, as he wouldn't scoot over on the rather large chair. Grantaire responded by grabbing his hips and pulling him up further on his lap, before wrapping his arms around Jehan's waist.

After a while more of talking, the kids got tired of Mario Kart, so Rachelle spoke up. "Cosette, remember, about the surprise?" Cosette shot her a look, before putting her finger up to her lips and shushed her. She flinched back, but Cosette smiled and winked at her to let her know she wasn't actually mad.

"Okay. Rachelle, if you and Gavroche want to go get it out, you may. Be careful, and set it on the table." Cosette told her. Rachelle grinned before grabbing the boy's hand and pulling him into the kitchen. When they came back out, Cosette told the kids they could go with her to see the surprise. The five of them traipsed into the kitchen. Shortly after, each kid came out with two plates of Cosette's wonderful Oreo Ice Cream Dessert. Julien gave his two plates to Azelma and Courfeyrac. Hillaire gave her two to Grantaire and Jehan, before slipping her way onto the chair with the two men. Rachelle gave a plate to Marius before sitting down with her own. Gavroche came over to the two-seater and handed a plate to Enjolras and Éponine before running back into the kitchen to get his own and one for Julien. Cosette brought out her own and Hillaire's. When Gavroche came back, he sat right in between Enjolras and Éponine. The laughed and scooted over so he would have enough room. They all ate the dessert quickly, before Cosette collected all of the dirty dishes. Éponine got up to help her. They went into the kitchen and loaded up the dishwasher together.

"So, how is Enjolras?" Cosette asked her.

"Umm, fine?" Éponine responded, not understanding the question.

"But, is there anything there? Do you like each other? Are you friends? Are you falling for him yet? Is he good with Gavroche?" She asked.

"Well, yeah, I guess we're friends. I'm not falling for him, but he is very good with Gav. They played Legos for two hours this afternoon." Éponine told her blonde friend.

"You'll fall for him. I don't know how you could not! I mean, he's become like an older brother to me since I joined the group, but he is certainly attractive. And if he's already good with kids, that's a bonus."

"Well, how is living with Marius? Are you living the dream?" The brunette asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yes! It's wonderful! Don't tell anyone, but we rearranged the bedrooms slightly. Marius and I moved most of our stuff to the other room, so that we can sleep in the same room. And Rachelle is absolutely adorable! I feel like she could be my own child! But of course, she's not." Cosette continued rambling about her wonderful life, but I let my mind wander to Enjolras.

"You're thinking about him right now, aren't you?" Cosette asked.

"Who?" Éponine played dumb.

"Enjolras! You have this little secret smile on your face and aren't listening to a thing I'm saying! But I'm happy for you, 'Ponine." Her friend told her. Instead of getting defensive, Éponine just turned and went back into the other room, seeing that the dishwasher was loaded. She sat back in the same spot, but noticed the kids were all gone.

"They are in Rachelle's room, playing." Enjolras answered her unasked question. Éponine nodded. He scooted a little closer to her. His arm went behind the back of the couch.

"So, how's everyone's first day with the kids?" Cosette asked, walking back into the room and sitting next to Marius. His arm immediately went around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Éponine scooted a little closer to Enjolras.

"Oh, Julien is just so polite! His manners are so good and although he's quiet, he's a very nice boy." Azelma gushed. "I think he misses his sister, terribly, though. We will have to figure something out about that." She said, looking to Jehan and Grantaire.

"Yeah. Hillaire is very shy, but she just latched onto R. It's actually really adorable. She probably hasn't spoken more than ten words today, but her actions say everything she needs to." Jehan said, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's neck and kissing his cheek.

"Gav is a good kid. We went shopping and Enjolras played with him all afternoon. He was so in awe of the apartment." Éponine said, turning around to smile at Enjolras. She scooted even closer to him as Cosette started talking about Rachelle.

After some more talk about the kids, Courfeyrac asked the real question. "So, does this mean we can't got to the Musain anymore?"

Everyone looked to Enjolras as he shook his head. "No, we can still go. We are just going to have to nix the alcohol in the back room. It would be irresponsible to have it around the children, and if we all go, we won't be able to find a babysitter." They all nodded, and Enjolras' hand finally fell down to Éponine's shoulder. R gave a Éponine a look, as if saying "I saw that." She gave him a soft smile, as he smirked back at her.

By the time there was a lull in the friends' conversation, it was nearing eleven. "Oh, my! The kids have school tomorrow! They all need to get to bed!" Cosette exclaimed, looking at the time. The students all got up and walked towards Rachelle's room. Marius, being the first one there, started laughing as he looked into the room. All four kids were asleep on the full bed. Hillaire was laying across the foot of the bed, with her head on her brother's stomach. Gavroche had his arm around Rachelle, and her head was on his chest, towards the head of the bed. Grantaire whipped out his phone and took a picture.

"I guess they thought it was time for bed, too." He said.

"Rachelle and Gavroche are adorable." Jehan gushed. "They are like best friends and boyfriend and girlfriend all packed into two bite sized bodies."

R walked over to the bed and gently picked up Hillaire. Then he turned to his partner. "Are you ready, flower?" Jehan nodded. Both thanked Marius and Cosette before heading to the door.

Courf picked up Julien next. He and Azelma left shortly afterwards. "They are adorable aren't they?" Cosette asked the three remaining adults. They nodded.

"We should wake him. I don't think he would like us standing here watching them, and I also don't think he would like to be carried home." Éponine said to Enjolras. He nodded. She walked over to the bed, and gently shook the boy. "Gavroche, it's time to come home." His eyes jerked open, but his body didn't move much. Once he got his bearings, he looked at Éponine. "Are you ready to go?" She asked him. He nodded, and tried to gently remove his arm from around his best friend. He kissed her hair, and mumbled something into it, before getting off the bed. In her sleep, she mumbled a response. He smiled at her. They all walked to the door, Marius switching off the light and closing Rachelle's door before leaving.

"Thank you, Cosette, Marius. It was a wonderful evening." Enjolras said, as they reached the apartment door. He hugged Cosette and shook Marius' hand again. Éponine nodded in agreement as she hugged both of them.

"Yeah, thanks, Miss Cosette, and Monsieur Marius. I had a lot of fun. Tell Rachelle I will see her at school tomorrow." Gavroche said, shaking Marius' hand, like he had seen Enjolras do, and being pulled into a hug by Cosette. Marius and Cosette said goodbye, and the trio returned to their room.

As soon as they got back inside, Gavroche yawned. "We have one thing to do before you go to bed, Gav." Enjolras told him. Éponine walked into her room, and came out with the little bag. They all three sat on the couch.

"It's a little welcome-home gift." Éponine explained, handing the bag to the boy.

"But, you've already given me so much! I don't even know that I need anything else!" Gavroche said.

"Well, we can all three share it, then." Enjolras compromised. The boy nodded before digging into the bag and coming out with the two video games. His eyes widened before a grin broke out onto his face. He wrapped his arms around both of them, pulling them into a group hug.

"Thank you so much! You guys are the best. I wish I could stay here forever." Gavroche said. Éponine pulled back and gave him a sad smile.

"I wish that, too." She said. "Time for bed! You have to be at school by nine tomorrow!"

"Also, don't think we won't be talking about that little stunt you pulled with Rachelle…" Enjolras said, putting a fake strict face on. He winked at the boy, and Gav ran off to his room. Enjolras and Éponine stayed on the couch until they heard his light click off and his door close. "How's tomorrow going to work? Our first functional day as a 'family'?" Enjolras asked the woman.

"Well, I get up at 7:15 and have a 9 am. I get done with class at 2, so I can go and get Gavroche from school. What time is your first class?"

"I don't have class until Dr. Valjean's at 11, but I have class until 5. I'll walk him to school. Do you want to get lunch together after our shared class?" He asked. She nodded, before she yawned. "It's getting late. You should probably get to sleep." He suggested. She nodded again, before standing up and turning towards her room. "Éponine, I had a lot of fun today. I'm excited for this semester, with you and Gavroche." Enjolras said, before she got to the hallway.

She turned around to smile at him. "I am, too, Enjolras. I am, too." They both went to their prospective rooms and promptly fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6: First Day as a FamilyGuy Talk

Éponine slept well that night. Everything had gone wonderfully with Gavroche moving in. Nothing bad happened. No one knew her secret, not even Azelma. And it was perfectly fine to stay that way. She got up at 7:15, just like she said she was going to. She got in the shower, got dressed, and then went out into the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. She started the coffee for herself and Enjolras, and put four frozen waffles in the toaster before going to Gavroche's room to wake him up. He groggily woke up to her shaking, and then proceeded to shoo her out of his room, saying that he was a boy and girls are not allowed in boys' bedrooms, just as much as boys are not allowed in girls' bedrooms.

Éponine snickered. "That's not what you thought last night when you were in Rachelle's." She told him before walking out of the room, and closing the door behind her so the boy could get dressed before breakfast.

"That's different!" He yelled at the closed door. Éponine laughed as she made her way back into the kitchen. When the waffles popped, Gavroche came into the room and sat down at the table, rubbing his eyes. Éponine asked him to get the peanut butter and syrup out of the cupboard, which he did. They both sat down and prepared their waffles, before eating. As Éponine finished and stood up to get her coffee, Enjolras came into the room.

"Good morning, Gav, Ép." He said. He ruffled Gavroche's already messy hair, while walking over to the counter where Éponine was pouring coffee, into mugs. "That smells amazing." He said, getting very close to her while grabbing his cup. "Thank you for making it." He added, before sitting down next to Gavroche. She nodded, before sitting at the only other empty chair. A comfortable silence followed, as they all finished their breakfast. Afterwards, they all got up to finish getting ready for the day.

At 8:30, Enjolras called for Gavroche. "It's time to go to school." He told the young boy.

"I don't want to go!" He complained.

"You have to." Éponine said, gathering her own books. "I'm going to class, too. And Enjolras will go later today."

"Plus, you get to see Rachelle." Enjolras said, grinning at the boy. Gavroche blushed, but didn't complain anymore. The three of them walked out of the apartment. Éponine locked it from the outside, and they all went down the stairs. When they got outside, Éponine gave Gavroche a hug, saying she would pick him up at 3:30 and to have a good day. Then the boys walked off to the elementary school, and Éponine walked to her own class.

"So, anything you want to tell me, now that Éponine isn't here?" Enjolras asked the boy when they had turned a corner and could no longer see the dorm.

"No. I don't think so." The boy said, avoiding looking at the man.

"What's going on with you and Rachelle? Is she your girlfriend?" Enjolras asked, pushing the subject.

"Eww! No! Girls have cooties! I don't want a girlfriend. We are just best friends." The eight-year-old said.

"Oh, are you sure about that? Does she know?"

"Yes. Well, at least I think so. We've just always taken care of each other. We know everything about each other. She knows about my parents, I know about her mom, and stupid idiot of a father. She came to the orphanage just a few months after me. We've done everything together ever since. She's even in my class at school." He said.

"And you looked very comfortable last night when you were sleeping at Cosette's." Enjolras prompted.

Gavroche blushed. "She used to sneak into my room after lights out. She gets a lot of nightmares, and claims that having me close helps them stay away. One time she said that her terrors are scared of me, so they stay away when I'm around. Sometimes, it's hard to sleep without her with me." He said, looking at the ground.

Enjolras put his arm on the boy's back. "It's okay. I don't think any of us mind, it just surprised us. If either of you get nightmares, we would rather you be comfortable and be able to sleep. Just let us know if we can do anything." He told the boy. Gavroche smiled up at the man.

"I'm really glad I'm staying with you and Éponine." Gavroche said, before smiling slyly. "But is there anything you need to tell me, now that Éponine isn't here?" He teased.

Enjolras lightly slapped his head, jokingly. "Nah. I don't have time for girl drama, like you do." He replied.

"Are you sure? I noticed how close you were sitting on the couch at Cosette's last night. I also noticed how close you were to her when grabbing your coffee. And your little nickname for her…" Gavroche said, with a smirk on his face, feeling proud of himself for noticing all of these things.

Enjolras looked a little taken aback, but then chuckled. "Nothing gets past you, little bud, does it?" When the boy shook his head, Enjolras continued. "We are just becoming friends. Like we already told you, we just met last week, through Cosette. Nothing is happening between us."

"Yet." Gavroche added, looking somewhat hopeful. "There's my school. I'll see you when you get done with class, Enjolras!" He said, running off to the front doors, where Rachelle was waiting, talking to some other girls. He heard Gav yell her name, and saw her turn and jump into his arms like she had done the night before. This time, the boy spun her around before putting her done and walking over to the circle of girls Rachelle had been talking to.

"Yet." Enjolras said, with a smile on his face, before turning and walking back to campus.

**A/N: Sorry, this is a short one. It's kinda cute, though. Don'cha think? I have had a busy week preparing and taking midterms and getting ready for spring break. I've also had a lot of inspiration to write, so I added on to this story, which still isn't done. I thought that it was close, but now I took a turn and it's going to add a couple more chapters. I hope you all really like this story and don't get bored with it, because there is a lot left!**

**I just wanted to make a note here and now, and I will probably never mention it again. I respond to everyone who follows, favorites, or reviews my current story. That being said, if I somehow miss you, I'm terribly sorry. I don't always do repeats, either. I won't respond to guests, because I can't, and I refuse to add it to the story. So, if you want to talk to me or anything, just make an account! It's free and fun!**

**Now that's over, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow, and favorite, if it strikes your fancy. I hope you all have a great week, and if next week is your spring break, relax and have a fun, safe week!**


	7. Chapter 7: First Day

Éponine went through her morning classes just fine. She sat by Cosette in Dr. Valjean's class, but today, Enjolras sat on her right side. Azelma sat by Courfeyrac in the row behind them. He assigned them some reading, but mostly the class just talked about their kids and how things were going. When class was dismissed, Enjolras waited for her to gather her things and say goodbye to Cosette before asking if she still wanted to get coffee and lunch. She nodded, and off they went to the union.

She ordered her usual white chocolate mocha, but when she went to pay, Enjolras stepped up to the counter and ordered his caramel macchiato, insisting on paying for both. When they called their names and handed over their drinks, they sat at a table and Éponine thanked Enjolras.

"You didn't have to do that. Just because we are living together doesn't mean anything." She told him.

She might have been imagining it, but she thought his face fell a little. "I was just being nice, but if it offended you, I won't do it again." He said, putting his shield up.

She sighed. "Don't be like that. I appreciate it. I really do. I'm sorry if I offended you by seeming unappreciative." She said, reaching a hand over to set on top of his on the table. She felt and saw him relax.

"I know. I guess Gavroche's words meant more to me than I thought." He said.

She gave him a quizzical look. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"Don't worry about it. We'll tell you someday." He responded, smirking at her.

"Oh, so you and the kid already have secrets from me. What is a girl supposed to do when living with two boys who gang up on her?" She said, throwing her hands in the air, making both of them laugh. They talked more, not feeling bad about their previous conversation. He told her what he had learned about Rachelle and Gavroche's past. She told him that it sounded kind of like Cosette and Fantine's situation. Fantine hadn't married Cosette's father, and he ran off before he even knew she was pregnant. She didn't have much money, so she worked in a bad factory for the first six years of Cosette's life. When Cosette was three, it got too hard to take care of herself and her child, so Fantine put Cosette in the care of another family, Éponine's family, in fact.

Fantine paid Éponine's father once a month, but her father still treated Cosette very badly. Éponine was her only friend, the only person who was nice to her for three years. The day Dr. Valjean came to get Cosette was the best day of the blonde's life, but the worst of Éponine's. Fantine had gotten sick, and Dr. Valjean promised to bring Cosette to her and take care of her, should the worst happen, which it did not. Meanwhile, their father started treating Éponine and Azelma as he had Cosette. Éponine had it the worst. She took the worst of the abuse and did the hardest jobs so that Azelma wouldn't have to.

When she was thirteen, Eponine's mom had a baby boy, whom neither of the parents wanted. Éponine took care of him for three years before her parents decided to kick him out, saying they didn't want to pay to feed his unhelpful mouth. If it was up to either parent, neither of the two girls would have ever gone to college, instead staying and helping to pay bills in unethical ways. But Éponine was very good in school. She was top of her class, and therefore had gotten a full ride to many universities. She decided to stay close to home, but not too close. The inn her father ran was two towns away, about a twenty minute car ride. She looked out for Azelma the first year she was here, until Azelma could join her. Azelma didn't get a full ride, but she got quite a bit of a scholarship. Éponine helped her get students loans, and was also helping her pay them off. They both worked at a diner near the Musain. Her freshman year, Éponine had applied and had been working there ever since. She had been promoted to Assistant Manager for her hard work, which meant she made twice as much as the regular employees.

When she walked into her room a few days before the first day of classes her freshman year, a blonde blur immediately pulled her into a hug. The blur quickly introduced herself as Cosette. Éponine just stared at the girl for a few minutes before asking if it was really her. When Cosette said "Of course I'm me. Who else would I be?" Éponine asked if she remembered her. Cosette thought for a moment, and then a look of recognition came over her face, remembering her old friend. She hugged her again, before introducing the brunette to her parents, Dr. Valjean and Fantine, who had gotten married in the nine years since the girls had last seen each other.

Over the next three years, they became reaquainted, and lived with each other in the dorms. Cosette always complained about how much Éponine studied and worked, until Éponine finally snapped halfway through sophomore year and explained why she did what she did. Cosette about cried when Éponine told her stories about the last nine years. About what her father had made her do. Cosette never complained again.

Éponine had fallen for Marius first, let that be known. He was in her one math class she had to take that wasn't in the education building. They became friends, and she fell hard. He didn't catch her. Instead, the first time Éponine introduced him to her roommate, and best friend, they fell in love with each other. Éponine never said anything to either of them. She just kept her repressed and unrequited feelings to herself. And now, we are caught back up to the present.

After they finished lunch, Enjolras walked Éponine to her last class of the day and then went to his own.

Éponine went back to their apartment for about an hour after her last class before walking to the elementary school to pick up Gavroche. She had to wait a few minutes for them to get out, but saw Cosette also waiting. She walked up to her friend.

"Hey 'Sette." The brunette said in greeting.

"'Ponine!" The blonde squealed, hugging her friend. "How was your day? More importantly, how was your lunch date?" She asked.

"Umm, good. But it wasn't a date."

"Yes, it was." Cosette said very matter-of-factly.

"How would you even know?" Éponine said. "I don't even remember telling you we were going to lunch."

"Well, first of all, you didn't tell me. That's because you didn't want me to know, because that would be proving that I'm right and you totally want to get with that. Second of all, he waited for you to get your things and say bye to me after class. He _waited, _Éponine. Not many guys do that for a girl they aren't dating. Thirdly, I happened to walk past the two of you in the union, and you were laughing, and you had your hand on his, on TOP of the table! Could you guys be anymore obvious? But you're adorable, and that's all that matters." She gushed.

"Well, then, I guess I should tell you that he also paid for my coffee…"

"EEEEEE!" The blonde squealed. "He totally has feelings for you. And I know you have feelings for him, even if you don't know it yet." Right then, the kids came tumbling out of the school. The two women quickly picked out Gavroche and Rachelle running towards them.

Each of them handed a piece of paper to the woman picking them up. "We made these today!" Rachelle said. The papers had different colored leaf rubbings covering the whole paper. There was hardly any white space.

"These are beautiful!" Cosette gushed. Éponine nodded her head as the children beamed with pride. "Are you two ready to go?" Cosette asked. They nodded, and started walking back to campus, with the women following behind. They chatted about classes and watched the kids in front of them until they got up to their doors. Cosette and Rachelle went in to their apartment, and Gavroche followed Éponine into theirs. He set down his backpack next to the door, but out of the way, before turning to Éponine.

"Eppy, will you play XBOX with me?" Éponine turned to the boy.

"What did you just call me?" She asked.

"Eppy? Is that okay? Everyone else seems to have a nickname for you." He asked, hesitantly.

She smiled the biggest smile before going over and pulling him into a hug. Shocked, it took him a moment to return it. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes. Yes, you can call me Eppy. And how much homework do you have?" She said.

"Just one math worksheet."

"Okay. Right after dinner you have to do your homework, deal?" He nodded, and they walked over to the couch to set up the game. They chose to play Minecraft. And that is how Enjolras found them an hour later when he got back from class.

"Whoa! Who said you could play my XBOX? Especially without me?" He asked, walking into the apartment and setting down his bag, next to Gavroche's.

"Ummm…" Gavroche looked nervous at Enjolras' serious tone. Éponine laughed.

"Gav, he's not serious. Right?" She said, looking back at the older student, daring him to say he was serious.

Enjolras smiled, and winked at the boy. "I was kidding, Gav. You can play, as long as you as Éponine or I first." Gavroche's face broke out into a grin as he turned back to the game.

"Enjolras, we made so much! You have to look at my house! And my weapon room…" As Gavroche rambled on about what he had done in the hour of playing, Enjolras came and sat on the couch next to Gavroche, and behind Éponine, as she was sitting on the ground. "Do you want to play? I could get you another controller…" Gavroche asked.

"No, that's okay. I'm kind of tired. I'll just watch for a while." He responded. After another couple of minutes, Éponine leaned back, between Enjolras' open legs. "Comfortable?" He asked, smirking down at her.

"My back was starting to hurt, so I decided to lean back. Got a problem, Gabe?" She asked.

"N-Nope. N-None at a-all." He said. She looked up at him, unused to his stuttering. Éponine gave him a questioning glance. "You called me Gabe…" He said.

"Are you complaining? I can continue calling you Enjolras, if you want. It's just that it's so lo-"

"No, it's surprisingly okay. Coming from you." He told her.

"Can I call you Gabe?" Gavroche asked, reminding them that he was still there.

"Sure, buddy. You can both call me Gabe." He said, smiling fondly at both of the other students in the room.

A few minutes more had Enjolras' hands on Éponine's shoulders, softly rubbing the knots out of her back and neck. "Oh, my. That feels wonderful! Ugh!" She said.

He chuckled. "Oh, really? You do feel really tight…" He responded, smirking. She swatted at his right forearm.

"That was NOT okay, especially with a child in the room!" She said.

"I'm not a CHILD!" Gavroche said.

"I was just joking, Éponine. And the guys say I need to loosen up…" He took his hands away for a moment.

"DON'T STOP!" She shouted at him.

"That's what she said." He whispered into her hair, softly enough as to not let Gavroche hear. She swatted his arm again.

"You are insufferable." She told him.

"You make it too easy." He replied.

The three sat in silence for a little longer, just listening to the music and sound effects from the game.

"How did you learn how to give back rubs, anyways?" Éponine finally asked.

"Well, it's kind of a funny story…" He said, uneasily.

"Oh?" She asked, still focused mostly on the game.

"Yeah. I actually learned by trying things on myself. All of the stress of studying law, and before that, trying to be on top of the high school world. I would tense up until I would almost explode, so I just started rubbing my own shoulders and trying to work out unnecessary tension that only made it all harder. You are actually the first person I've tried this on, besides myself." He said.

"Impressive. Can I hire you to do this all the time?" She asked. He didn't respond. "Gabe?"

"Maybe, how are you going to repay me?" He said, smirking, clearly having his own agenda.

Éponine just rolled her eyes and mumbled a, "Nevermind."

**A/N: So, how was installment #7? It's another kind of fluffy chapter with some backstory. I just love writing these three. And then when you throw Cosette in, AHH! I love it. Anyways, this week has been my spring break. I've gotten a lot of relaxing in, got a MacBook, which is where I'm sending this update from, but unfortunately not a lot of work or writing... Oh well. If you have a spring break, message me what you did, or are going to do, and if you don't, let me know what you wish you were doing! See you next week, or in your reviews! Love y'all!**


	8. Chapter 8: Azelma

The next few weeks went pretty much the same as the first day. Gabe would walk Gavroche to school. Éponine would go to her classes. Gabe would take her to lunch, sometimes in the dining center, sometimes for coffee in the union. He would then go to the rest of his classes while Éponine would get some homework done before going to get Gavroche with Cosette. Éponine and Gavroche would hang out and play video games or LEGOS until Gabe came home. He would join them until dinner time, in which Éponine or Enjolras would heat something up. On rare occasions Éponine would stop playing when Gabe got home and make a real recipe for dinner, including spaghetti, tacos, and breakfast burritos. On rarer occasions, they would go to the dining center or out to a real restaurant.

After dinner, the boys would do their homework. Most nights, Éponine had to work six to close at the diner. On the nights she didn't, she could relax and get caught up on any extra work or sleep. Many nights, Gavroche, Rachelle, Julien, and Hillaire would get together in one of the four rooms to be kids together. Sometimes, one pair of adults would take them to the playground across the street. There were just a couple of swings, a slide, and a basketball court, but it was some exercise for the kids. The other adults would either do their homework or get together with their friends for some stress relief.

On one night, in which Éponine didn't have to work and was all caught up on homework, they were all in Azelma and Courfeyrac's apartment. It was two weeks before midterms, and the law students were "studying" for their government test, which they all already knew all the facts for. The kids were in Julien's room, doing God-knows-what. They were being quiet and every once in a while, the students would hear laughs, so they didn't mind. Azelma and Courf were curled up on the two-seater together, Azelma with a textbook and notebook on her lap, Courf with an Azelma on his. Marius was seated in the middle of the couch, with his arm around his girlfriend, and Grantaire on his other side. Jehan had his head on the arm of the couch, and his legs on Cosette's lap, the rest of him falling on Grantaire and Marius. Enjolras was seated on the chair, with his Government textbook open on his lap, and many colored flashcards on top of it. Éponine was in between his legs, like they had been in their apartment. Éponine had a notebook and was trying to recall all of the events of that week in the classroom she was observing, but mostly just doodling in the margins.

She looked up, around the room, and smiled. Everyone seemed to be getting closer, as an effect of this project. Cosette and Marius were always good together, and R and Jehan were better than ever, having Hillaire to dote on.

"Hey, 'Ponine. Can I talk to you in the kitchen quick?" Éponine heard her sister ask. Both girls got up and walked towards the kitchen.

"Wait! I'm coming too! You can't leave me with all of this testosterone!" Cosette squealed, pushing Jehan's feet off her lap. Once the three were in the kitchen, Azelma looked kind of nervous.

"'Zel, what is it?" Éponine asked her sister.

"Umm, I'm not exactly sure how to tell you this… But…"

"You and Courf hooked up and now you aren't sure if you are a real thing or just a one night fling?" Cosette guessed.

"'Sette!" Éponine whisper yelled at the blonde before looking back at her sister, who just nodded. "Azelma! Really? Courf? When? Please tell me Julien was not in the apartment…"

"No! No! He and Hillaire don't like to be apart, so they take turns sleeping in each other's rooms. He was in Jehan and R's room two nights ago, and well, it just kind of happened." The younger girl explained, focussing her eyes back on the floor in front of her.

"What do you mean 'it just happened?' Things like that don't 'just happen.'" Éponine said, glaring at her sister.

"I mean, we were just studying and then he turned on the TV, and you know how I can't study with the TV on, and I couldn't go in my room, because I would have just fallen asleep on my bed or my laptop would have distracted me. So I asked him to turn it off, and he said make me. I tried to go back to studying, but I was just so distracted. I went over to him to try and take the remote away, and we ended up wrestling and tickling over it, and you know…"

"They got carried away. It's not a big deal, honestly, 'Ponine. You're on the pill and used a condom, right?" Cosette asked.

"Of course! I'm not stupid!" Azelma exclaimed, before being shushed by her older sister. "'Ponine, you aren't mad are you? I just don't know what to do… I don't know if I should talk to him about or just wait until he brings it up…"

"I'm not mad. Kind of disappointed, but not mad, at you. Mad at Courf? Yes. I think you should talk to him about it after we all leave tonight. Is Julien going to R's again?" When her sister nodded, Éponine continued. "Then talk to him, and see where you end up tonight."

"And by where, she means whose bed." Cosette said with a wink towards the younger Jondrette girl.

Éponine rolled her eyes. "I meant in general, but that, too. If you need me, I'll wait up or you can call me, okay?" Azelma nodded before hugging her sister.

"Thank you, 'Ponine." She said, into her shoulder.

"Let's head back out, okay? It's almost time for the kids to head home and go to sleep anyways." The other two girls nodded before following Éponine back into the living area. They went back to their places, and Éponine leaned into the chair more than she had before, disregarding her notebook and work. Soon, she felt two hands on her back. She leaned into Enjolras' touch.

"You're really tense. Are you alright? Do you want me to get Gav so we can leave?" He leaned down to whisper to her. She shook her head.

"No, everyone will be leaving pretty soon anyways. Azelma just told me some stuff. It's fine. I'm fine. Thank you." She responded, leaning her head back on the chair, in an effort to see him. He smiled down at her, she smiled back, and then they joined the conversation again.

About fifteen minutes later, Gavroche and Rachelle came out and sat down between the couch and the coffee table. "Rach, you ready to get going?" Marius asked, seeing the girl yawn. She nodded, and Marius pushed Jehan off of the couch, careful that he wouldn't hit either child, and gave Cosette his hand, to help her up.

"We should probably head out, too." Enjolras said, standing up from behind Éponine. "Ready?" He asked Éponine and Gavroche. When Gavroche hopped up, and Éponine put her arms out in front of her in a silent plea to be helped up, Enjolras helped her and the six students bid their adieus to their friends before walking out the door. In the hallway, Rachelle and Gavroche hugged before following their older counterparts into their apartments.

Once inside, Éponine turned to the boy. "Gavroche, do you have everything ready for tomorrow? All your homework is done and in your backpack?" She asked. Gavroche rolled his eyes, but nodded. "Okay. Are you going to bed now?" She asked. They didn't actually set a bedtime for the young boy, but he was so active during the day, and smart enough to know better than to stay up really late when he had to get up for school the next morning, that he normally was in bed by ten at the latest. It also helped that they didn't allow video games between seven and ten, which was when, on stressful days, Enjolras and Éponine would sometimes play by themselves. Those were normally more mature games, such as Grand Theft Auto and Assassins Creed.

"Yeah. I think I'll read my book I brought home for a little bit, but then I will. Will you come turn off my light in half an hour?" He asked, knowing he wouldn't want to get out of bed to do so. She nodded, and he ran off to his room. Enjolras had gone to change out of his jeans and into a soft t-shirt and sweats. Éponine used the time alone to plop facedown onto the couch.

"Are you sure you're alright, Ép?" She heard Enjolras ask. She also felt the couch sink a little by her feet. She flipped over, still covering her face with her hands.

"Yes." She responded shortly.

"What exactly did Azelma tell you?" He asked.

Éponine uncovered her face and sighed deeply. "She told me that she and Courfeyrac slept together, but didn't define anything, so she doesn't know what to do."

"Is that all?" He asked her, patiently, but a little aghast.

"Yeah, why?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Well, I imagined it would take something much bigger to bring down Éponine Jondrette." He said, chuckling slightly. She glared at him. "Well, if it makes you feel better, Courfeyrac has many flings, but if how they were acting around each other tonight is any indication, he actually likes your sister, and probably does want something to come of it. He's a little dense sometimes, but he's not stupid. He knows better than to screw around with someone he's living with, especially for a grade."

"Thanks, that makes me feel so much better." She said, in a very monotone voice.

"I'm just trying to help! What do you want me to do?" He asked.

"Why do you care so much? I was just fine laying on the couch by myself." She asked.

"Because this is also my couch, and I like you Éponine. We seem to understand each other, and I don't feel like that with many other people. And besides, you're taking care of my kid, so I feel compelled to make sure you are okay. If you go down sick, I'm not sure what I'll do…" He said, smirking at the last part. Éponine rolled her eyes again, before sitting up and punching his arm, lightly.

"I'm fine. Just a little stressed. I told Azelma I'd stay up for a while, just in case things didn't go well with Courf and she wanted out of her apartment. You can carry on with your night. I'll turn Gav's light off and then stay up just a little longer before going to bed. Don't worry about me." He nodded and stood up, heading to his room. When he got to the hallway that lead to his and Gavroche's bedrooms, Éponine said, "Gabe," he turned around to look at her. "Thank you. For caring." He nodded, and turned back around. "Also, Gav is totally not 'your kid.'" She said. He turned his head so he could wink at her before walking into his room.

Éponine smiled to herself before looking at her phone. She had a group message from Azelma to her and Cosette. A: _All good. Details tomorrow!_

Then there was a response from Cosette. C: _Where are you sleeping?! I have to know something before I go to bed!_

AJ: _That's my secret, I'll never tell._

EJ: _XOXO Gossip Girl! Be safe, lil sis! Love you!_

CF: _Same! You owe me major details tomorrow! Get some, sistah!_

The messages stopped coming after that, so Éponine could only think that Azelma was following Cosette's orders, and Cosette got busy with something else. Éponine goofed around on her phone for a while, checking emails, twitter, and playing dumb games. When she saw it had been a half hour, she went in to check on Gavroche. He had fallen asleep while reading _The Lightning Thief, _which he had started the day before, and was more than half done with. She walked over, gently picked up the book, put his bookmark in it, and set it on his desk. She put a soft kiss on the top of his head, and walked over to the door to turn off the light and close the door. After she closed the door silently, she turned off the rest of the lights, locked the apartment door, and went to her own room to finish a paper due the next day.


	9. Chapter 9: Sick

The next day in Intro to Child Psych, Éponine noticed Azelma and Courfeyrac were still sitting behind the rest of them. Enjolras was seated to Eponine's right, and Cosette to her left, with Marius, R, and Jehan past her. Before Valjean walked into the classroom, Azelma flicked Éponine and Cosette in the back of their heads. They both whipped around to look at her. "Lunch at the Union after class?" She asked. Cosette nodded, almost hungrily. Éponine shrugged, before turning to Enjolras.

"Can we cancel lunch today? Azelma, Cosette, and I need to talk." She asked.

"Yeah, no problem. As long as you feel better." He smirked at her before turning his attention to the professor entering the room. Éponine rolled her eyes before turning back to her sister and nodding, letting her know she was in for lunch. Class went on as normal, and Enjolras left with Courfeyrac, instead of Éponine, but not before Courfeyrac and Azelma shared a quick hug, promising to see each other later at the apartment. Then, the three girls were off to the Union. They all got coffees and wraps and sat down on the couches in the corner, hoping for some privacy.

"So, how was he?" Cosette asked, as soon as she finished checking their surroundings.

"Ummm…" Azelma answered.

"Slow down. I want to know about the talk first, before I hear any less than desirable details about Antoine Courfeyrac."

"Well, after R and Jehan left with Julien and Hillaire, we both were still just sitting in the living room. It was kind of awkward, actually. Then he stood up to go to his room, claiming he was tired, which I knew he wasn't, since his first class of the day is Valjean's, so he goes to sleep at like 1 and wakes up at 10:30. I stood up and flat out asked what he wanted from me. It must have shocked him, or something, because he just kind of froze.

_Flashback_

"'_Zel, can't this wait? I was going to bed." Courf said, not turning around, putting his hand up to his face._

"_No, Antoine. Just tell me. I won't be mad. It won't change anything if you just needed something to hold you over for a while. I'll just go along with my life. But I can't do this uncertainty. It's killing me, not knowing if you just wanted to try it out or if you actually wanted something to come of it. Please, just give me an answer and I'll leave you alone." Azelma pleaded with the man._

_He turned around and walked towards the girl. "Azelma, you leaving me alone is the last thing I want. You weren't just a one night stand to hold over a horny college kid. I actually really wanted things to work with you, but I also didn't want to rush into anything. I was hoping something like last night wouldn't happen for a long while in the future, but it did. I guess, what I want to say is, Azelma Jondrette, will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"_

"And then, I nodded, and he kissed me, and I woke up in his bed this morning." She finished.

"Eeek! That's kind of adorable!" Cosette squealed.

"Yeah, wonderful." Éponine said, not looking up from her coffee, feeling a rumble in her stomach.

"'Ponine, you said you weren't mad. Especially since it worked itself out instead of causing anyone problems." Azelma said to her sister.

"I'm not mad. It's perfectly fine. I'm just kind of tired. I think I'm going to head back to my apartment before my last class. I forgot my paper on the printer, anyways. Then you can tell Cosette all of the juicy details that I don't want to hear." The other two girls nodded, still looking concerned.

"Do you want me to call Enjolras to take you back? You don't look so good-" Azelma offered.

"No. I'll be fine." Éponine responded shortly, feeling a headache coming on from the loudness of the Union.

"At least text me when you get in so I know you're alright?" Cosette asked. Éponine nodded, and hugged her friend and sister before exiting the Union. She wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck as she left, as the September air was a little chilly.

When she got back to her apartment, the door was already unlocked. She stepped in, and almost ran into Enjolras as he was trying to leave.

"Ép! What are you doing back? I thought you were eating with the girls." He said, stepping back to let her in.

"Yeah, we did. But then I decided to come back before my last class. I had to grab my paper, anyways. I didn't know you would be in, either. I thought you went to lunch with Courf." She said.

"We went, but he only had a half hour before his next class, so I just came back here. I was just going to head to my next class a little early. Are you feeling okay? You don't look much better than you did last night." He said.

"I'm fine. Just tired. I stayed up late working on the paper that's due today. I have to get going. Excuse me." She said, pushing past him, going to her room, where she grabbed her paper. When she came back to the door, he was still there. "I thought you were going to get to your class early?" She asked him.

"Ép, I really think you should check your temperature. You really don't look good."

"No. I can't afford to not go to class. Besides, I have to work tonight, anyways."

"Then, at least let me walk you to class to make sure you make it there okay." He told her.

"Fine. You do it every other day." The pair left the apartment, Enjolras locking the door behind them. They walked most of the way in comfortable silence. The farther they got, the bigger her headache got, and the dizzier Éponine felt. When they were just one building away from the one in which Éponine had class, she started to see spots. She stopped walking and reached for Enjolras.

"Ép!" Enjolras grabbed her hand with his, and stepped behind her, trying to keep her upright. "Éponine, can you hear me?" He asked. Éponine could only nod. When she opened her mouth, nothing came out.

"Oh, god, Ép! You're burning up!" She felt his cold hand on her forehead. "I'm going to try and get you inside. Can you try and walk?" He asked. Éponine tried to take a step, still leaning heavily on Enjolras. "Okay, I'm going to just pick you up."

Éponine tried to resist and shake her head, but she still couldn't see and gave up quickly. She felt him put one hand behind her back and the other under her knees. Her feet left the ground, but she felt safe. She subconsciously tucked herself into his chest. She felt the warm air as they entered the nearest building, which happened the one in which Enjolras had most of his classes. She felt cold wood under her as he laid her on a bench, but he sat down and put her head in his lap, so she wouldn't have to put her head on the hard bench.

"'Ferre! Can you come to Meeker? Éponine just blacked out, and I don't know what to do!" There was silence, in which Éponine figured Maurice Combeferre was responding. She didn't know him very well, but he had come to their apartment parties some nights and she knew he was Enjolras' best friend and most trusted advisor in times of trial. Especially since he was a pre-med/pre-law major, hoping to go into medico-legal studies.

"Thank you! Please hurry, I think she's losing consciousness!" He said, before hanging up the phone. "Éponine, can you please keep moving so I know you're okay. I know you can't talk but-" She nodded, understanding he was just worried. She reached up to try and grab his hand, hoping to tether herself to reality and calm him down at the same time. Once she found it, she squeezed it, and felt some of his tension dissipate. She tried to keep twitching her feet or squeezing his hand to stay awake, but it was hard.

"Enjolras!" She heard Combeferre enter the building.

"'Ferre, thank you for coming so quickly." Enjolras said.

"No problem, mon ami. Just tell me what happened." 'Ferre said, sitting by Éponine's feet, starting to check her over.

"She hasn't been looking so good since last night, but she said she was just tired and worried about her sister. Then she came back to the apartment today and she looked pale, so I insisted on walking her to class. One moment we were walking, and the next she was reaching for me and couldn't really move. She couldn't walk or talk. I carried her in here and called you."

"Okay. Éponine, did you sleep last night?" He asked, while feeling her forehead. Éponine nodded, because she had. "For more than a couple hours?" Éponine paused before shaking her head. "Did you eat this morning?" Éponine nodded, because once again, she had. She had an apple while Gavroche ate his waffles.

"How much did you sleep the night before? Can you hold up fingers?" She nodded, and thought for a moment. She held up four fingers.

"Jesus, Ép! No wonder you don't feel well!" Enjolras said. Combeferre nodded.

"If you want my opinion, you need to call in sick for the next two days and just relax. I think you are getting sick from lack of sleep and stress. Have your teachers email you assignments and you can sleep and continue to get caught up. You probably shouldn't work for the next few days, either." Combeferre told her.

"Umm, did you by chance bring your car?" Enjolras asked.

"Yeah. You want a lift back to the apartments?" 'Ferre guessed. Enjolras nodded, and the two men helped Éponine stand and walk out to the car. Combeferre drove while Enjolras rode in the back with Éponine's head on his shoulder. Combeferre parked outside the apartments and the two men once again helped Éponine up to the apartment. Once Éponine was settled on the couch, the two friends walked over to the door.

Enjolras nodded and thanked his friend. "Thank you, mon ami. I'll see you at the meeting tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Take care of her, make sure she doesn't exert herself too much for the next few days. If you need to, skip the meeting. Éponine and Gavroche are more important. I'll whip the guys into shape. She's a special one, make sure she's okay." He said, looking at his friend knowingly.

"She sure is." Enjolras said, looking over at the girl who was now asleep on the couch. "I might take you up on your offer. See you." He said, shaking his friend's hand and closing the door behind him.

**A/N: Hope you liked this one! I would have updated last night, but I was on a choir trip, and while it was really fun and we got to sing a lot and meet new people and everything, I'm so tired and hungry!**

**I have a strange question this week. What is your newest favorite song? I know I can't just choose one, so pick the newest one you have. There will be more next week! Review and stuff!**


	10. Chapter 10: Take Care

When Éponine opened her eyes, she first realized she wasn't in her room. The second thing she realized was not to sit up. She tried and her brain instantly protested. She looked around and noticed she was on the couch, so at least she was in her own apartment.

"Hey, you feeling better?" She heard Enjolras ask from the two-seater behind her head. She turned to look at him, which still hurt her head, but not as badly.

"Ugh-" Was her only response.

She heard him laugh, stand up, and put his laptop down where he had been sitting. He walked over to her and knelt down by her head. He felt her forehead. "Your temperature seems to have gone down a little."

"Time-" She said, somewhat embarrassed by her lack of speech.

"It's 3:30." Éponine's eyes widened. "Don't worry. I emailed all of our professors explaining that you were not feeling well and I needed to make sure you were okay. Azelma is going to cover for you tonight at the diner. I also texted Cosette, she is picking Gav up. They should be back any minute. Everyone just wants to make sure you are okay. I meant it. I'm not sure I'll be able to get through this semester without you." She just nodded, before pointing to her throat. "Oh, you want some water? Give me just a second." He got up and walked into the kitchen.

As she heard the water running, she thought about how much Enjolras had done for her today. And for what? She was no better off than Azelma had been. Enjolras was so nice to her and did everything for her, but she didn't know what he wanted from her. Did he want a girlfriend? Did he want a friend? Did he want a friend with benefits? Did he just want a good grade? What would happen after this semester?

Enjolras came back in with a glass of water and a tablet of ibuprofen. "This might help." He said, handing her the glass. She tried to sit up, but was forced back down by her headache. "Okay, pop the tablet in, I'll help you drink." He offered, taking the glass back. She did as told, and he gently poured the water into her mouth so she could swallow it, but not pour water all over herself.

When he sat back with the mostly empty glass, she thanked him. "It's nothing. At least you can talk now." He said, with a sad smile.

"Eppy! Are you okay?" Gavroche said, running into the room after throwing his bag next to the door. He scrambled over Enjolras to kneel in front of the older girl. They both chuckled.

"Gavroche! What did I say about giving her space?" Cosette said, following behind him with Rachelle. Gavroche looked at the blonde and blushed before backing up a little bit. "That's better, I guess. How are you, 'Ponine?" She asked, sitting on the couch at her feet, while Rachelle took her place next to her best friend.

"I'm feeling better, yes. How was school? How was the walk with Cosette and Rachelle?" Éponine asked the boy.

"It was good, but when Cosette said you were sick, I wanted to get home so fast. But the girls weren't walking fast enough for me! 'Elle kept telling me to slow down. I'm glad you are better now. Can we still play video games if you're sick?"

Éponine laughed at the boy's hyper personality. "Thank you for being so concerned, but I'm fine. We can play video games in a little bit. Go get a snack for you and Rachelle, first." He nodded and did as she asked.

"Thank you, Cosette. That was a big help to us." Enjolras told the other girl.

"Oh, it was nothing. He's not too much trouble. Besides, I had to go anyways. Anytime you guys need a break, he can come play with Rachelle. They love each other, that much is obvious."

"Yeah, we know." Éponine said, sneaking a smirk at Enjolras. He smiled back, and Éponine saw Cosette give her an eyebrow quirk that said we-are-definitely-talking-about-this-because-there-is-something-you-haven't-told-me. Éponine just smiled sweetly at the other girl. Cosette stood and said she and Rachelle should go back to their apartment to do homework. Éponine tried to sit up to see them go, but just saw the kids hug before she collapsed backwards again.

"Éponine, stop trying to sit up. You're not helping. You are perfectly fine on the couch until the ibuprofen kicks in." Enjolras said to her, getting the controllers ready to play Minecraft.

"But-" Éponine started.

"No buts. You are going to stay laying down on this couch until I say so." He said. Gavroche came back in with a handful of Oreos and sat with his back against the couch under Éponine's head. Enjolras settled on the couch, with her feet on his lap. He handed over the other two controllers and started the game.

Sometime, while they were playing, Éponine fell asleep again. When she woke up, the clock under the TV said it was almost eight. She smelled pizza in the air, and it made her really hungry. She tried to sit up, and was successful this time, her headache mostly gone. She pushed the blankets off her legs, and her legs off the couch. She stood up and started walking towards the kitchen. There was a plate of pizza rolls in the microwave, waiting for her. She took it out, and got a mug out of the cupboard. She filled it with water and put it in the microwave. She grabbed the hot chocolate mix, and stirred it in after the microwave beeped. She had just sat down at the table to start eating, when Enjolras came in.

"You're up. And feeling well enough to move about." He noted. She nodded. He walked over and felt her forehead. "You still have a temperature, but I'll permit it."

"Thank you." Éponine said in a quiet voice, her face in her mug, savoring the steam of the hot water.

"For what?" He said.

"Taking care of me. I don't deserve it. I haven't done anything to compel you to be nice to me or help me, but you have. Like I said, I don't deserve the kindness." She said, still into her mug, not risking looking at the man across from her.

He moved so he was kneeling next to her chair and reached for one of her hands. "Ép, if anyone deserves to be taken care of in this world, it's you. You work so hard all the time to help Azelma and stay in school. You dote on Gavroche constantly and make sure all his needs, much more than needed to receive the grade, are met. You hardly ever do anything extra for yourself. You are always so strong, stronger than anyone I know. You deserve so much than I could never even begin to give you." He said.

Sometime during his little speech, she looked up at him. Their eyes locked, and his gaze was so intent and sincere and, loving? Before she could really comprehend it, she was leaning forward and so was he. She blamed it on the fever. Then his lips were on hers and their kiss was so sweet and sensual. Her heart soared and never wanted him to pull away. But soon enough, they heard footsteps and then a gasp. They pulled away, but heard clapping coming from the doorway.

"Yes! Courf, Cosette, and R all owe me five bucks!" Gavroche exclaimed, before running up and hugging both of the college students. Both were shocked, by the kiss and Gavroche's proclamation.

Enjolras snapped out of it first. "What?"

Gav rolled his eyes before answering. "We all had a bet for when the two of you would get together. I had until the end of this week. Courf had the beginning of midterms. Cosette had finals week, and R had that you wouldn't realize it until after Enjolras graduated this spring. But I won! And that's what is important." He stated, standing up straight. "If you don't mind, I'm going to go collect my winnings now."

"Umm, actually, Gav. Could you not collect quite yet?" Enjolras asked. The other two students looked at him.

"Why?" The third grader asked.

"Well, I'm not sure we are ready to tell everyone what just happened quite yet." The older student said slowly and with apprehension as he looked at the woman next to him. She nodded.

"Will you just give us until tomorrow? That way you'll still win, but we can figure out our story, too." She said. Gav looked defeated, but nodded.

"Thank you. Did you need something?" Enjolras asked the boy. The boy looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Oh, yeah. Can you help me with one of my math problems? I'm stuck." He told the man. Enjolras nodded before standing up and following the boy out of the room. He stopped briefly to whisper to Éponine that they needed to talk. She nodded but stayed glued to her seat for a few moments. Snapping out of her daze, she jumped up and ran out of the apartment. She ran next door and pounded on Azelma and Courfeyrac's door, before remembering that Azelma was covering for her at work. She ran to the apartment on the other side of hers, and knocked on Cosette's door. A very worried looking Marius opened the door.

"I need to talk to Cosette. Like, right now." Éponine said, rushing past him, grabbing the other girl off the couch and dragging her into her and Marius' bedroom.

"What is the matter, Éponine? Is everything okay? Is Gavroche okay? Is Enjolras okay?" She asked.

"Yes, no. Everything is fine. Except for me."

"Ponine, honey, calm down. Will you sit down and tell me what happened? You look like you've seen a ghost. Do you still have a fever?" She asked, coaxing the girl to sit down on the bed.

When her breathing finally calmed, Cosette asked again. "What the hell happened?"

"Gabe- Enjolras- He kissed me." Then she put her head in her hands and started sobbing. The blonde's eyes widened significantly, before she jumped into action, wrapping her arms around and rubbing the brunette's back.

"Oh, honey." She said, starting to laugh. "Why are you crying?"

"What else am I supposed to do? I don't understand! Why would he do that? Why did I do that?" She said, through her tears.

"Because you love each other? Because you care about each other? It's okay, but I don't think I'm the one you should be having this conversation with." She pointed out.

"How could I talk to him about this, though?"

"Oh, I don't know. How about, hey, Enjolras, why did you kiss me?" Cosette said, bluntly.

"I really don't need your sass right now." Éponine said, glaring at the blonde. Then they heard an urgent knocking on the door.

"Honey, will you get that?" Cosette called.

"Anything for you, sweetums." Marius said, opening the door.

"Have you seen Éponine?" The girls heard a man through the apartment. Said girl's eyes widened.

"Oh, shit. He can't see me like this! Cosette! Go tell him I'm not here!"

"I'll do no such thing. He can, and will see you like this, and you will talk to him about this. There is no other way." She said, standing up and leaving the room. When she opened the door, the blonde man was outside of it, reaching to open it. "She's all yours, but don't do anything I will have to punch you for. Got it?" The blonde threatened. He nodded before they traded spots and Cosette closed the door. "Remember, it's my room. If you do anything, go back to your apartment!" She said from the hallway.

Enjolras began walking towards the bed, but stopped when Éponine turned her back to him. "Oh, Éponine. Why did you run? I told you we needed to talk."

"Because I don't want to talk." She said, curling in on herself.

"Oh." She heard his face fall, since she wasn't looking at him.

"No! Not like that! Gabe, I just- I don't understand."

"What don't you understand, Ép? I care about you. I thought the feelings were reciprocated, otherwise I would neve-"

"They are! I just don't know how you could. How could you care about someone like me? I mean, look at me." She said, looking back down at her hands, which she was twisting nervously.

He climbed onto the bed next to her. "Ép, look at me." She did as she was told. He reached his hand up to cup her face. "Do you want to know what I see when I look at you?" She shook her head, not wanting to hear him bash her appearance. She already knew she was ugly and too skinny and didn't have enough money for good makeup or fashionable clothes. "I'm going to tell you anyways.

"I see gorgeous, silky, long brown hair that I want to run my fingers through and tangle my hands in." He said, doing just that. "I see perfect, smooth skin that I want to rub my hands all over." He said, running a finger down the length of her arm. "I see cute, small hands that do so much washing and cooking and writing, they have to be amazing. I want to reach out and hold them all the time." With the hand he ran down her arm, he intertwined their fingers. "I see big, beautiful brown eyes that I could get lost in for days." He explained, cerulean meeting chocolate. "I see flawless, pretty, pink lips that I want feel against mine again, every second of everyday." After saying that, he leaned very close to her. Her eyes closed, thinking he was going to kiss her again. "I see a beautiful woman I could only dream of calling my own someday. I can only hope you'll believe me. May I kiss you again?" He asked. She nodded, and he did. Oh, he did.

One of his hands tangled in her hair, again, while one of hers went around his neck, reaching into the bottom of his mop of curls. She scooted down until she was laying on Cosette's bed, and he shifted so he was balancing above her, the hand moving from her lower back to support his own weight. Their passionate kiss deepened as she rolled her tongue over his lips, and he let her in. Her hands moved from his neck and hair to his chest, running up and down over the buttons of his shirt. As she started to undo them, he pulled away. She whimpered slightly.

"Not here. We are still in Marius and Cosette's apartment. Come home with me?" He asked, standing up and offering her his hand. She took it and nodded, letting him lead her out of the room, and after saying goodnight to Marius and Cosette, the blonde winking at the pair, they left to go back next door to their apartment.

"Where is Gavroche?" Éponine asked.

"In the shower. He'll be out in about fifteen minutes."

"Ugh, I was hoping you would say in bed."

"Ép, I don't want to rush us into anything. Maybe we should just play video games tonight. You are still sick and supposedly on bed rest…" She rolled her eyes, but agreed. They turned on Assassin's Creed, and in fifteen minutes, Gavroche came out in his pajamas, his hair still wet.

"So? Can I claim my prize tomorrow?" He asked, standing in front of the TV. Enjolras paused the game and then looked at Éponine with a quirked eyebrow as if to say 'your call.' She looked at the controller in her hands for a moment, before looking up with a smile.

"I guess I can manage everyone knowing Gabe and I are together."

"YES!" Gavroche exclaimed. "I KNEW you could do it, Gabe!"

Enjolras, for his part, just looked at Éponine with a funny grin on his face. "So, we're together?" He asked.

"Yeah, I mean- If that's okay with you." She stammered, blushing.

"It's perfect with me, Ép." He said, leaning closer to kiss her.

"EWWWW! Please stop! Or wait until I get out of the room." Gavroche yelled, running from the room. They pulled back to watch him slam the door to his bedroom before both laughing. Enjolras pulled her back in for another kiss, this one more heated than the peck Gavroche witnessed. It lead to the controllers falling on the ground, Éponine on her back, with Enjolras leaning over her on the couch.

Her shirt rode up slightly, so Enjolras could feel the strip of skin between her shirt and jeans. He lightly ran his finger across her hip, feeling the smooth skin. She flinched. "Is little Eppy ticklish?" Enjolras said, as if talking to a child.

"No!" She protested, but he had already attacked her sides. They were both laughing hysterically. She pushed him, trying to get him to stop, but pushed him off the couch. Unfortunately for her, he had a firm enough grip on her waist, she came with him, and they landed in a compromising position on the floor. He was flat on his back, his hands on her waist, still. She landed with her hands on his chest, but the rest of her flush against him. They stared at each other for a little while before Éponine stood up.

"It's getting late. We should probably get to bed." She said.

"Oh, right." He said, face falling slightly. He stood up next to her.

"Do I have to stay home again?" She asked.

"Yes."

"But Gabe-" She said, whiningly.

"Yes. You have to stay home and rest. You can do work, but you have to stay here." He said, suddenly becoming very serious. "I don't want you to get sicker. I only have a couple of classes tomorrow, and one of them is Valjean's, so I'll be here most of the day to keep you company. Promise me?" he pleaded.

She rolled her eyes. "I guess. I'll see you tomorrow, then?" She asked.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." He said, leaning down to give her a chaste kiss. They turned away from each other, Éponine to go to her room, Enjolras to lock the door and turn off the TV and lights before proceeding to his own room. Éponine got ready for bed, and climbed in. She lay in her bed reliving the previous couple of hours and remembering the wonderful feeling of Gabe's lips on hers. Soon enough, she was out with a small smile on her face.

**A/N: AYEEE! I hope you liked this one. I certainly did. I know it's a little longer than normal, but I bet that's okay with you all. I messed up in my calculations and would have posted an 800 word chapter if I wouldn't have caught it, and that's just too short. So now you have this one. Before you chastise me and say this story now has no place to go, you're wrong. While it is an Enjonine story, it's actually mostly centered around Eponine and Gavroche, with pairings on the side. But Enjolras won't be going anywhere anytime soon. I have at least ten more chapters to publish, and I haven't even finished writing the story yet.**

**I started a new Enjonine story yesterday. It's based off of The Selection books, by Kiera Cass. I don't know when I will start publishing those, but I'm really excited for that one. Speaking of books, what is your favorite/what do you recommend? I love reading, hence the love of fanfiction, and I have a long list of to reads, but I'm always looking for new ones. I'm doing a project right now, and it's goal is to have read all of the dystopian trilogies by the end of summer. So I have upwards of 150 books to read before September. Anyways, keep reading and reviewing and following and favoriting, and all that good stuff! See you next week!**


	11. Chapter 11: Fun and Secrets

The next morning, when her alarm went off, she got up to make Gavroche breakfast, but upon entering the kitchen, saw Gabe and Gav both making breakfast. She stood in the doorway watching the two boys for a few moments before Gav saw her.

"Eppy! Go back to bed! You are supposed to be sleeping!" He exclaimed, coming towards her and pushing her back to her bed.

"Okay! Okay! I'm going!" She said. "I was just making sure you were up and getting ready for school. You can't be late just because I'm sick." She climbed in her bed and Gav pulled the covers up to her chin.

"I'll make it to school. You just stay here." He said, scampering off back to the kitchen. About ten minutes later, both boys came in. Enjolras was carrying a tray full of food. Gav was carrying a couple of towels he found in a drawer. He placed the towels on her lap, as she had sat up when they walked in. Enjolras then placed the tray on the towels.

"Surprise! We made you breakfast in bed!" Gav said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Éponine replied, enthusiastically.

Enjolras rolled his eyes, before walking to the other side of the bed. When he looked at her expectantly, she nodded and patted the seat next to her. He sat next to her, and Gav sat between their feet. They all picked off the tray. Neither of the boys were exceptional cooks, but they managed to make toast with butter and cinnamon sugar, scrambled eggs, microwave bacon, Grands biscuits, Cheerios, and orange juice.

When the tray was mostly empty, Éponine looked at Gav, who was leaning back against the foot of the bed with tears in his eyes. "Gav, what's wrong?" Éponine asked, dodging the eggs Enjolras was feeding her.

"That's just it. Nothing is wrong." Éponine just cocked her head, wanting him to explain more.

"We're like a real family. That's all you wanted." Gabe said, understandingly.

When the boy nodded, Éponine moved the tray to the end table next to her bed. "Oh, Gav, come here." She beckoned. He climbed up to her lap, and they wrapped their arms around each other. Enjolras soon joined in, wrapping his arms around both of them.

_Just think, it could be like this always._ Éponine thought, starting to get a little emotional. Suddenly, Éponine pulled out of the hug. She had almost forgotten.

"Gav! You have school! You have to go!" She said. Then she turned on Enjolras. "You are going to take him, right? How could you forget?!" She yelled at the two boys. They jumped into action, running into the hall to get their shoes, coats, and Gavroche's bag.

"Be back in a bit, Ép!" Enjolras called.

"See you after school. Get better, Eppy!" Gavroche yelled, obviously being dragged out the door.

She put her head in her hands. She had to tell them. She had to tell them soon. Maybe she would tell Azelma first. She thought about how she would tell everyone while she got out of bed to clean up their wonderful breakfast.

A couple of weeks later, Éponine was in in their apartment alone since her first class was canceled and Valjean's wasn't going to meet today, when, there was a knock at the door. As she opened it, a very distraught Azelma ploughed into the apartment. "Yes, dearest sister, you may come into my apartment." Éponine said, sarcastically, watching her sister pace back and forth behind the couch. "Are you okay?" She asked, getting worried.

"Kind of. I'm kind of terrible and kind of ecstatic. How is that even possible?" She said, more to herself than her elder sister.

"Okay, you are not okay. You are crazy. Sit down, please. Before you wear a rut into my carpet." Éponine said, putting her hand on the younger woman's arm and leading her to the couch. "Now. Tell me what's wrong. Is it Courf? It was Courf, wasn't it. I should march right over there and punch him in the face. I KNEW he would hurt you."

"No! Well, yes. But it wasn't his fault. Not completely, anyways. It takes two, in any case." Éponine eyed her sister suspiciously.

"Please, tell me what happened."

"So, we hooked up that first night, a couple of weeks ago. Anyways, then two nights later, we cleared the air, and you know. Ended up doing it again." Éponine nodded, telling her to go on. "Well, neither time was really planned, and we weren't really prepared. Neither of us really planned on having sex while in this apartment. I mean, I'm on birth control and we used a condom, but it was from his wallet, and who knows how long they have been in there…"

Éponine felt a headache coming on. She started rubbing her temples. "Azelma Madelina Jondrette, please tell me that this is not leading where I think it is."

"Éponine, I'm so sorry, and I don't know what to do!" She said.

"Azelma. Are you or are you not pregnant with Antoine Courfeyrac's child?"

The younger girl looked down at her hands, twisting them, just as Éponine does when she is unsure or nervous. But then she nodded. "I think I am."

Éponine jumped to her feet. She picked up the pillow that had been behind her and threw it across the room so that it hit the wall. "Jesus, 'Zel! How could the two of you be so stupid?! I expected better from the both of you!" By now the younger girl was crying. Éponine calmed down enough to sit back down and comfort her sister.

"Ponine, what do I do?" She said, still sobbing.

"Have you told Courf yet?" The younger girl shook her head. "Well, you have to do that first. The two of you can discuss your options, then. If you want me to be there, I will, but you need to talk it out with him. You can't do this alone."

"What if he pushes me away?"

"Then all of your other friends, including me, will be here to help and support you with any decision you make. But what if he doesn't? If he really loves you, he will also help and support you in a decision the two of you make together. He has to have a say in it. After all, you did say it takes two." The younger Jondrette girl started sobbing again. Éponine wrapped her in an embrace and just held her until her sobbing subsided.

"Ponine, I'm scared."

"I know you are, 'Zel. But you have a great group of friends right here who will support you. And you have me. And you have Courfeyrac."

That's how Enjolras found them when he walked back into the apartment. He tried to be quiet, seeing the tender moment the sisters were sharing. He closed the door carefully, took off his shoes, and tried to sneak off to his room.

"Not so fast, Gabriel." Éponine said.

He sighed and sat in the chair. Azelma giggled.

"You really are whipped." She said. Éponine grinned. He hadn't noticed the younger girl's tear-stained face until now.

"Now. I'm going to go with Azelma to her apartment for a little bit. Then we can go to lunch."

"Éponine, do you think he could come with us? Just in case things get ugly?" The loving, gentle way Éponine looked at her sister reminded him of the way she looked at Gav. Her face softened and she looked so happy.

"I guess. Do you want to tell him, or should I?" She asked the younger girl.

"I will." Éponine nodded at her, telling her to get it over with. "Enjolras, I don't know if you know all the details of Antoine and my relationship, but the moral of the story is, a few weeks ago we hooked up, while Julien was at Jehan and R's. And now I think I'm pregnant." She said, very strongly. She was a Jondrette, afterall. They did not show weakness to others.

Enjolras, for his part, sat there looking stunned. He opened his mouth, kind of like a goldfish.

"Well? Say something." Éponine prodded.

"Congratulations? What do you need me for?" He finally said.

"I haven't told Antoine, yet. I'm not sure how he will react. I just want someone to hold Éponine back in case it doesn't go as planned." He nodded. The three of them got up and walked next door to Azelma and Courfeyrac's room was. Courfeyrac was just getting up, and was in the kitchen in just his boxers, making coffee.

"Hey, babe. I was wondering where you went." He said, pulling Azelma in for a chaste kiss, noticing their guests. "Do you guys want coffee?" The all shook their heads in response.

"Antoine, will you come into the living room? I have something I want to tell you."

He looked quizzically at her, before nodding. He poured himself some of the dark liquid, before following the three out into the living room. Éponine and Enjolras sat on the couch, while Azelma and Courfeyrac sat on the loveseat. She took the coffee from his hands and set it on the coffee table.

"Zel, what is this all about? Is everything alright?" He asked, concerned.

"That depends on your reaction." Éponine mumbled. Enjolras fixed her with a cold glare.

"Umm- I don't know exactly how to say this. I wish it wasn't so hard-"

"Azelma! Please, just tell me. It can't be that bad."

"Well, okay then. I think I'm pregnant." All eyes fell on Antoine Courfeyrac, who just froze. "Antoine? Courf? Please. Please say something. I knew this was a bad id-" Azelma was cut off by Courfeyrac's lips on hers. His hands cupped her face and brought her into an intense kiss.

When they pulled away, Azelma's hands went up to her lips. Courf's face lit up into a gigantic smile. He lifted her up and spun her around the living room.

"Well, I guess we aren't needed…" Éponine said to her partner.

"I guess not. We'll just be going now." He said to the pair. As they left, they saw Courfeyrac put his hands on her stomach.

"We are going to be parents? For real?" Azelma, through a watery smile, nodded. He kissed her again.

Enjolras closed the door after Éponine and he got out of the apartment. "Well that went better than I could have hoped." He said. She nodded.

"I can't believe I'm going to be an aunt." The went back into their own apartment and sat down on the couch.

"I can't believe they are so happy. I would be so terrified. I'm not ready to have a kid. Azelma is only a sophomore! She has two more years of school!" Enjolras said.

Éponine glared at her- boyfriend? Is that what they were? "So if it was us, you would just leave me? You would want me to get an abortion? It's not your life that's being affected by this, Enjolras."

He winced at her usage of his surname. "No! No, you misunderstand. I know it's their life. I just can't even imagine that. I'm sure if I was in the situation, I would feel much differently. I would want you to do what you felt most comfortable doing. I would support you in anything you decided."

"So if I told you, right now, that I wanted a kid, you would follow me into my bedroom and have unprotected sex with me until I was pregnant? Then you would stick around and be the kid's father?" She challenged.

"I would probably try to talk you out of it, or at least ask you to wait until we dated a little longer, but if that's what you really wanted, I would. I'll do anything for you, Éponine." He said.

She looked at him, and then her face broke out into a smile. Then she started laughing, before she launched herself at him. He caught her, and they kissed for a long time. "Éponine, I think I love you." He said, pulling away. Caught off-guard, Eponine's eyes widened. "I don't expect you to say it back or anything! I just, couldn't help myself. Oh, God. Why am I such a fuck up? I'll just- I'll be in my room."

As he started walking to his room, she got up and kissed him again. "Are we still going to lunch?" She asked.

"If that's what you want." He answered. She nodded. He kissed the top of her head. "Okay." She dragged him back to the couch, and they cuddled, watching TV, for a while before going to lunch.

**A/N: So, yeah. That all happened. I don't really have much to say today. I decided to update this morning, since I'm going to be real busy tonight. I have been meaning to ask this for the last three chapters or so, but if any of you are artists, and so compelled, I would love a better cover picture for this story, or any of my stories, for that matter. I wanted something with Aaron (Enjolras), Sam (Eponine), and Daniel (Gavroche) for the cover, but unfortunately, the internet doesn't seem to have any of those... If you're up to it, I would love for you to send me some ideas! As always, read, review, enjoy, and let me know if you wanna chat about anything! A couple of my readers and I have been going back and forth with some new story ideas, for Les Mis and other fandoms. I think it's really cool, and will always take ideas, even if I don't publish them in a timely manner, or ever. I hope you enjoyed this installment, and I'll see you next week with Chapter 13!**


	12. Chapter 12: Announcement

That night, instead of getting together like they normally would on a Friday night, Cosette and Marius took all the kids to the playground, Grantaire and Jehan went out for a few drinks, Azelma and Courfeyrac stayed in discussing more plans, and Éponine and Enjolras stayed in playing video games, with a few makeout sessions in between levels. They agreed to get together Saturday night for a party in Azelma and Courf's apartment.

Saturday went by fairly normally. Since Enjolras still wanted Éponine to rest before the party that night, she made him a shopping list and he took Gavroche to Target. When they got back, the boys went into Gav's room to play LEGOs, while Éponine made a cake for Azelma, knowing they would make their announcement that night. When it was finished, she walked into Gavroche's room, and snuggled up to her boyfriend, watching them play.

Around seven, the three walked over to apartment 258. Éponine was bearing a covered cake, so no one could see what it said, while Enjolras was pushing a begrudging Gavroche.

"Why don't you want to go?" Éponine asked, when they were just outside the door.

"Because 'Elle is mad at me." He said quietly, to the floor.

"Why is Rachelle mad at you?" Enjolras asked.

"Because I'm a dumb boy and apparently I 'don't understand.' The thing is, I don't know what I don't understand!" Both older students started laughing. "Why are you laughing at my pain?" He asked.

"You'll understand when you're older. Just tell her you're sorry for whatever you did. She can't stay mad at you very long." Éponine said. He nodded and they walked into the apartment. Éponine set the cake on the kitchen counter, and hugged her sister. "Is everything good?" She asked, knowing they had gone to the doctor that afternoon. Azelma smiled and nodded.

"Everything is perfect." Enjolras and Gavroche each hugged the girl before sitting down in the living area with Courf and Julien. Soon, the other two groups came in and they all sat around the living room talking.

"So, is it true?" R said. Éponine, Enjolras, Azelma, and Courfeyrac all looked at each other.

"Is what true?" Éponine asked, not knowing what he was talking about.

"Did you and Apollo hook up?" Apollo was R's nickname for Enjolras, which he hated almost more than if he would have just called him his given name.

"N-no!" Enjolras stammered.

"We're just together now. No hooking up has happened." Éponine responded, with a smirk on her face. When she looked at Gabe's flushing face, she winked and said, "Yet."

Hillaire, who was perched on Jehan's lap, leaned over to put her head on R's chest. "What does 'hook up' mean?" The guys in the room, minus Enjolras, but including Éponine, all burst into laughter. The girls and Enjolras looked appalled.

"You'll never have to know, darling." R said, becoming serious again.

"Jehan! Why won't he tell me?" The little girl complained.

"He's just protecting you. You know how protective he is. You'll find out when you're older." The smaller man told her, brushing her hair between his fingers and fixing R with a glare.

"But all y'all need to pay up now!" Gavroche said, standing up triumphantly. Éponine had noticed he was sitting with her and Enjolras, whereas Rachelle was across the room, sitting with next to Jehan and Hillaire. He walked around, first to Courf, then R, not acknowledging Rachelle, who was glaring at him, and finally to Cosette. They all fished out $5 and paid the boy, who then gave $5 to each Éponine and Enjolras, keeping $10 for himself.

"Think of it as a wedding present." Éponine blushed, while Enjolras and the rest of the company chuckled.

"Well, I guess the cat is out of the bag." Enjolras said, putting his arm around Éponine on the back of the couch. She leaned over to give him a quick peck on the lips.

"I guess it is." She said.

"EWWW!" Julien and Gavroche jumped up and ran out of the room.

"Gavroche! You're so stupid!" Rachelle yelled after him. Then to Éponine and Enjolras, "I think it was romantic." dragging out the last word.

"Give him time, Rachelle. You are still young. Someday he might grow up." Éponine told the girl.

"I hope so." She sighed.

The group continued chatting. Eventually, Gav and Julien came back into the room. Then, Azelma stood up.

"We have something to tell you guys. You all know we got together a few weeks ago. Before Éponine and Enjolras, for the record. But-"

"We found out something Friday morning, which was then affirmed today." Courfeyrac interrupted, standing next to his girlfriend and putting his arms around her.

"I'm pregnant!" Azelma said, enthusiastically.

Éponine just watched everyone else in the room. Cosette, Rachelle, R, and Jehan immediately started gushing. Marius just sat there for a moment.

"I didn't even know you were dating! Why does no one tell me anything?" He said. Cosette shushed him.

"What does that mean?" Hillaire asked.

"It means Azelma is going to have a baby!" Rachelle said.

"Oh! I love babies!" Hillaire said, joining her older friend in the circle around the mother-to-be.

"Wait. You aren't having a baby, are you?" Gavroche said suspiciously to Éponine.

"No! Why would you think that?" She replied with wide eyes.

"Well, I just thought, 'Zel and Courf just got together and you two just-"

"No. I am not pregnant. Hopefully, I won't be for a while." She said carefully, sneaking a look at Enjolras. He didn't show any emotions on his face, so she just moved on. "Who wants cake for this momentous announcement?" She asked, standing up to go into the kitchen.

"Me!" All of the kids, including R and Jehan shouted.

After eating the cake, the kids went into Julien's room to play. They kept chatting a while longer, before they heard yells from the other room. "Gavroche Sebastien Thenardier, I hate you and hope to never see you ever again!"

"Rachelle Kamille Monette, stay away from me! You are the most annoying girl I have ever heard of! Why can't you just be normal?"

"Ugh!" Éponine watched Azelma's eyes go big as Rachelle ran out of the room, sobbing. Cosette ran up to intercept her.

"Rach, what happened?" She asked the girl.

"Gav- He just- Ugh!" She said through angry tears. Cosette picked her up and started shushing her and rubbing her back. Cosette turned to look at Éponine over the little girl's shoulder. Her expression was shocked.

Éponine stood to walk into Julien's room. What she saw shocked her. There were toys all over the floor. Julien and Hillaire were hiding under the covers of the boy's bed. Gavroche was sitting in the corner, facing the corner, with his arms crossed and an angry look on his face. She approached quietly and cautiously.

"Gav-"

"Don't touch me!" He said, shrugging her hand off his shoulder.

"Gavroche. Look at me." She said sternly. Hearing her change in demeanor, he turned to look at her, his angry facade falling, giving way to tears. She took him into her arms. "What happened?"

He looked down at his hands, and started twisting his fingers around. "I don't know. One minute we were starting to get along, and then she just got too close to me. I couldn't concentrate on making the train track for Julien, so I scooted away from her. Then she started yelling at me! I guess I got angry at her for yelling at me, so I yelled back."

"Oh, Gav. Don't you see? You love each other. She just wanted to be close to you. With all of the adults getting together, she just wanted someone, too."

"But, girls have cooties! Rachelle is my best friend, but I don't want to kiss her! And I certainly don't want her to have a baby!" Éponine chuckled at that.

"I don't think she wants that either, but do you understand, Gavroche?" He hung his head and nodded. "Can you go apologize now? Make up and then we can go back to our apartment, okay?" He nodded again.

On their way out of the room, he looked at the twins huddled on Julien's bed. "I'm sorry for scaring you, Julien and Hillaire. Everything will be okay tomorrow, I promise." He said. That's when Éponine really realized that these kids were a real family. Julien and Hillaire were like the little kids Éponine and Azelma had once been, hiding under the blankets while their mom and dad fought, hoping everything would be alright again in the morning. Gavroche and Rachelle were the only parents they had ever known, before coming to campus.

Éponine and Gavroche finally got out to the living room, where Cosette had calmed Rachelle down and they were getting ready to leave. Gavroche looked up at Éponine. She nodded, and he walked over to the trio getting ready to exit the apartment. In a quiet voice, Gavroche said, "'Elle, I'm sorry." She turned around to glare at him, but when she saw the way his head hung, her face softened, and she launched herself at him. He caught her easily, and buried his face in her hair. Everyone smiled at them.

When the eight-year-olds finally let go of each other, Marius led Rachelle and Cosette out the door and back to their own apartment as Éponine, Enjolras, Gavroche, Grantaire, and Jehan got ready to leave. Hillaire was going to stay with Julien tonight because they were already mostly ready for bed.

"'Ponine, can I talk to you before you leave?" Her sister asked as she was walking out the door. The older sister looked back, and saw the awe in the younger's eyes. She turned back to Enjolras and Gav, telling them to go ahead, that she would be there soon, before turning back to her sister.

"Can we go in your room?" Azelma nodded and led the way to her old room, since the couple shared Courf's now.

Once settled on the bed, Éponine started. "I assume it's about Gavroche." When the younger girl nodded, Éponine sighed and continued. "Your assumptions are correct. I noticed right away when we were introduced, but when you didn't recognize him, I decided not to tell you. I've been doing some research, and a few weeks ago I went to the orphanage to talk to Fantine about it. She looked over some of his files as well as my own, and decided that the paperwork lines up with my story. She agrees with me. How many more Thenardiers do you know?"

"Oh, 'Ponine. What are we going to do?" Azelma asked.

"You are going to do nothing. The stress won't help you or the baby. I'll come up with a plan and keep you informed, but I can't let you get too involved." The younger girl nodded. "You also can't tell anyone, not even Courf, not even Gav. If they knew, they could be put into danger." Éponine said, seriously.

"They haven't tried to contact me since I left two years ago to join you here. Unless you know something else I don't, why would they suddenly start caring about us?" Azelma asked.

"I never know what they are going to do. We have to figure out our moves before they can figure out who he is." Éponine said, standing up to leave. "I'll keep you informed, but I should be getting back now." The sisters hugged, and Éponine left.

After arriving back in her own apartment, she saw that Gavroche went straight to bed, with Enjolras not far behind. He stood up when she came in, asked if everything was okay, and then walked her to her bedroom door. He kissed her goodnight outside her door, and then went back to his room. While lying in bed, Éponine decided that even with all the drama, everything ended well. It was a good day.

**A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. I think there are a lot of moments that are hilarious, like the one where Marius knows nothing. I am a true believer in non-perceptive, totally oblivious Marius. I'm still looking for artwork for my stories, so if you have anything, let me know.**

**I'm also looking for you guys' input on a new story I'm working on. I might have mentioned my Harry Potter prompt I'm working on. If not, it's basically a story in which Les Amis go to Hogwarts. I want YOUR headcanons for this. I've gone through most of the Tumblr suggestions and I have some opinions of my own, but if you have a headcanon you really like, it could be in my story. I'm also definitely looking for plot points. If you have any questions regarding this, don't be afraid to PM me, and definitely leave me reviews and such! **

**Thanks so much for making this story such a hit! I don't beg for reviews, but they are always nice. There are over 200 people reading this story from around the world, and that astounds me! Thank you for being awesome!**


	13. Chapter 13: Halloween

The three weeks were spent preparing for and taking midterms, so the group didn't get together a lot, unless it was to study. Dr. Valjean was just having them take a vocab quiz, but they had to take their kids in for a midterm interview with him. He would check over their journals and then chat with them for a little bit, making sure the college students were doing what they needed to, and that the kids were happy. Mrs. Valjean would also be at the meetings, to help check up on the children.

A few days before their interview, when Éponine was going through the rubric, making sure they had everything ready, she looked over at Gavroche, who was doing his math homework on the coffee table. "Have you been writing in your journal? I've never seen you with it out."

"Yeah. I write in it on nights after I take a shower. Sometimes, they also make us write in it at school, knowing that some of us have to do it for you. Don't worry, I haven't had anything bad to write about you, yet." He said with a devious grin.

"Good. I hope it stays that way. Does that mean you're happy here, with us?" She asked, somewhat hesitantly, trying to hide in her own homework.

He climbed onto the chair where she was sitting and hugged her. "Yes, Eppy. I'm happy." He said. They just sat in the chair for a little while before he spoke again.

"I wish- I mean, I know I can't, but sometimes I wish I could stay here after the semester is over."

"I wish that you could, too. But the reality is, you can't. I mean, I know Miss Fantine isn't your mom, but we aren't your parents, either. You are going to have to go back." She said.

"I know. But sometimes I can dream, right?" He said, sadly.

"Of course." Both went back to doing their homework until Enjolras got back with Subway sandwiches for lunch.

All of their midterms and interviews went well. That Friday, the whole group was in Éponine and Enjolras' apartment.

"So, Halloween is coming up." Courfeyrac said.

"Are we going to get dressed up and go trick or eating?" Hillaire asked.

"Trick or treating, darling. And yes, we are." Jehan corrected. All of the kids' faces lit up. Gavroche and Rachelle shared a sneaky look, before Gav ran to his backpack. He brought back a notebook.

"Elle and I had an idea. We should all go together. And we have costume ideas for everyone."

The adults all looked at each other. "I don't know, Gav…" Enjolras started.

"You don't even have to buy all the costumes. Some of the things you already have!" He said.

"Fine. Let's hear it." Cosette said.

"Yay! First of all, I'm going to be Batman. Rachelle is going to be Catwoman." He said.

"The good Catwoman, like when she helps Batman, not when she fights him." She interrupted. "Julien is going to be Robin, and Hillaire is going to be Batgirl." She finished, then motioned for Gavroche to continue.

"So the kids are the good guys. You all are going to be the villains. Courf is going to be the Joker."

"Here's my caard." Courfeyrac said, licking his lips, like Heath Ledger did in The Dark Knight.

"Perfect. Azelma, you are going to be his Harley Quinn." She nodded as he continued. "Éppy, you are going to be Poison Ivy, and Gabe, you are going to be the Riddler." They both nodded, approving.

Rachelle took over. "Grantaire, you are going to be Bane, and Jehan, you are Scarecrow." Each of them nodded.

"I'm necessary evil." R said. Gav laughed.

"Marius, you are Two-Face, and Cosette, you are going to be the bad Catwoman. We ran out of girls for you to be." Cosette rolled her eyes, but laughed.

"That's okay."

"So, can we do it?"

The adults all looked at each other, and then nodded in agreement. Gav and Rachelle high fived and cheered. "We're the best planners!" Rachelle exclaimed. They all continued talking. Marius offered Enjolras a green suit coat he already had. The girls, adult and child alike, piled into Éponine's closet to look for clothes they might need. They all agreed not to show the boys their costumes until Tuesday night, when they would get ready in Cosette's apartment.

Saturday was filled with shopping for the extra costume pieces the group didn't have. Enjolras had an old cane of his grandfather's, so he just needed a green hat. Éponine bought a red wig, green high heels, and green, long, fake eyelashes. They also got Gav a Batman mask and weapon belt. Grantaire had offered to make him and Enjolras' symbols to pin onto their clothes.

The rest of the weekend and Monday, they got their costumes assembled, did homework, and just relaxed. Tuesday, after classes, Éponine helped Gavroche safety pin his emblem to a black shirt. She then tied a blanket around his neck for a cape. She proceeded to Enjolras' room, where she assisted him in pinning a question mark to the back of Marius' suit coat, and another on his hat.

She then took a garment bag, with her own costume in it to Cosette's apartment. Azelma and Hillaire were already there. They had kicked Marius out and into Azelma and Courf's apartment.

Cosette was already made up. She had painted a black mask around her eyes and had dark red lipstick on. She had borrowed a pair of tight, leather, black pants from Azelma, and a tight v-neck black shirt from Éponine. She also had a pair of long, black, leather gloves, a black tool belt, and knee high black boots.

She was putting the same dark red lipstick on Rachelle, who also had black boots, gloves, and a tool belt. Rachelle had a black leotard, tutu, and leggings on, instead of skin tight, leather clothes like her older counterpart.

Azelma was helping Hillaire with her costume. She was pinning another one of Grantaire's Batman emblems on a black leotard, which she then helped the younger girl into. She also had a pink tutu, black leggings, and black tennis shoes. Éponine went and grabbed a pink blanket off of Rachelle's bed to tie around Hillaire's neck.

Azelma was wearing a red and black skirt and a white, tied shirt. She had thick rimmed glasses, and one black, one red pump. She put on dark eyeshadow, and bright red lipstick. Seeing everyone was getting ready just fine, Éponine started on herself. She started by putting on her costume. She first put on three-quarter length green leggings she had borrowed from her sister. She then had a tight, short green halter top dress. Her feet had the new green dyed heels that she had bought Saturday. Then she asked Cosette to help with her makeup. She started with bright green eyeshadow, and then bright red lipstick, courtesy of Azelma. Then, Cosette helped her apply the giant green fake eyelashes. Then, she used some of Cosette's green eyeliner to finish it off.

"Damn, if you don't get laid tonight, I don't think you ever will." Azelma told her sister, out of hearing range from the children.

It was nearing six o'clock, which was when trick or treating started in the town near campus, so Éponine and Cosette donned their wigs, red and black, respectively. Hillaire and Rachelle each put on their masks, and Cosette and Rachelle put on their cat ears. The girls picked up their pumpkin buckets to collect candy with, which Grantaire had painted with Batman emblems, and the girls walked over to Azelma and Courf's apartment to meet the boys.

Azelma knocked and then opened the door, so the boys would know they were coming in, and motioned for Hillaire to walk in first. Jehan, in his suit, not yet wearing the sack that would go over his head, cooed over her. R, in his jeans, vest, and fur coat, picked her up and twirled her around, saying she looked absolutely adorable. Next, Rachelle went in. She bounced up to Gavroche, in his shirt, cape, jeans, boots, and mask, who smirked at her before putting his arm around her shoulders.

Cosette followed her, but up to Marius, who purred at her, and tried to kiss her lips, but she turned, chastising him for trying to mess up her lipstick. Azelma went next. She smiled and walked up to her boyfriend, who immediately put his hands on the strip of skin between her shirt and skirt. Éponine had to admit, Courf's costume was pretty darn good. He had on a purple suit jacket, a yellow vest, and a green bow tie. He had spray-dyed his hair green, painted his face white with black around his eyes, and smeared red lipstick over his lips. He also had a cane, black pin-striped pants, and white shoes.

Éponine was the last to enter the apartment. All eyes went to her, including the ones she desperately wanted. When she looked at him however, he had a weird look on his face.

"Hot dang, Éponine! You look amazing!" R said. She smiled shyly and thanked him, staying where she was, just in the doorway. Courfeyrac wolf-whistled at her, which Azelma playfully slapped him for.

"Hey! Don't mess up my makeup!" He protested.

"Are we ready to go?" Cosette asked. Everyone said yes, and they started to leave. Éponine led the way out of the apartment complex and across the streets to the nearest neighborhood. The children quickly caught up with her. When they got to the first house, the adults stayed back and let Gavroche and Rachelle lead the other two to the door. They said trick or treat, and got their candy before bouncing back to the sidewalk and over to the next house.

Throughout the night Éponine stayed close to the front with the kids. Behind her was Cosette and Marius, holding hands. Then R and Jehan, the former's arm around the latter's waist. Enjolras was behind them, walking with his cane. When Éponine saw him, she felt a pinch of hurt at his reaction to her costume, but couldn't help the fact that his costume was good. He had Marius' green suit jacket over a black dress shirt and green tie, all which fit like it was his own. He had black pants and that cute green bowler hat on his head. It also didn't help seeing Courf and her sister behind him. Azelma was hanging off of him and they looked absolutely adorable and extremely happy. She was really happy that her sister was happy, but sad that she wasn't acting similarly with her own boyfriend.

The last stop was the orphanage. Part of Rachelle and Gavroche's Halloween master plan included buying extra candy, and giving most of theirs, plus the extra, to the children who hadn't been placed with students. As they turned to walk up to the door, Enjolras somehow caught up to Éponine. She felt his arm snake around her waist, and before she knew it, everyone else had passed them.

"Riddle me this. How can you look so fantastic all the time and then pull this on and blow my mind?" While everyone's backs were turned to them, he dipped her kissed her passionately.

They heard a click of a camera, and he brought her back to her feet. Éponine's face was flushed, but she saw Azelma with her phone out, having caught the moment. Éponine hid her face in Enjolras' jacket. He wrapped his arms around her and laughed, thanking Azelma silently over Éponine's head.

"Come on, Ép. Let's go inside." He said, leading her into the orphanage.

After getting back from their night trick or treating, the children were exhausted. They laid them all down in Rachelle's room, who graciously gave the bed to Hillaire and Julien, while she and Gavroche made a bed out of sleeping bags and blankets on the floor. All four were out within half an hour of getting back to the apartments. Shortly after the children fell asleep, the adults went back to their own apartments.

As soon as the door closed to apartment 256, Enjolras slammed Éponine against it, kissing her ferociously. She didn't respond for a moment, stunned by his forwardness, but recovered shortly, kissing him back.

"I've been wanting to do that all night. God, Éponine, you have know idea what you do to me, do you?" He said, moving his lips from hers to her neck. Her head fell backwards, against the door, giving him more access. It seemed to her that his hands were everywhere on her body. In her hair, running up and down her arms, on her waist, walking up from her knees…

"Gabe. Gabe- Stop. Just for a minute." He jerked away from her, looking hurt, like a sad puppy. "Don't pout like that. Don't you think we should talk about this first?"

"You don't want to? Oh, God. How could I have been so stupid, of course you don't."

"Dammit, Gabriel Enjolras! Stop it! Look at me!" She yelled. He did look at her. "That's better." She said, softening and putting her arms around his neck. "I just don't want to make a stupid mistake, like Azelma and Courfeyrac. Are you sure you're ready?" She asked.

"Éponine, I've been ready since the moment I met you. And you wearing that short, tight, dress, and flaunting your body around me all night. I can hardly control myself."

"Perfect. Your room or mine?" She said, grinning wickedly.

He didn't respond. Enjolras just lifted her up by her waist. She wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed her again. He carried her to his bedroom, and laid her down on the bed.

**A/N: So, I'll admit, I had a ton of fun writing this chapter. It took me a while to figure out who they were all going to be, but in the end, I can just picture all of them together. And we got some development in the Enjonine department! If you think they're moving to fast, you have to remember, they are college students that are living together. It was bound to happen.**

**Next week are my finals, so wish me luck! I'll be done by 4:30 (my time), so there will be a post next week. I'm still not finished writing this whole story, but my updating schedule has me going up until I come back to college in the fall, so hopefully I'll be able to finish it this summer. This story should be done by next Christmas (fingers crossed!) Thank you for all of your support, and as always, if you have anything to say to me about this story, future stories, Les Mis, or just life in general, review or PM me! I love chatting with you guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and see you next week!**


	14. Chapter 14: The Morning After

The next morning, Éponine woke up warmer than she normally did. Without opening her eyes, she took stock of her surroundings. She felt safe, probably due to the strong arms locking her to her spot on the bed. Her head was on a smooth, chiseled chest. She heard and felt a heartbeat right under her ear. While she was warm, she could also feel a breeze flowing through the sheet onto her naked stomach. Lastly, she smelled the most amazing smell in the world. The smell was what brought her memory back. It was just so _him_. It was the smell of old books, which he had lining the walls of his room on bookshelves, and ink, and the lavender fabric softener they bought last week to do laundry with.

She finally opened her eyes, and looking back at her, were the beautiful cerulean eyes that she associated with her boyfriend.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey." She said, smirking.

"You look like Gavroche when you do that." He told her. That only made her smirk widen. She leaned up to kiss him good morning. Just then, they heard the front door open.

"Gavroche, freeze where you are. Let me check where Éponine and Enjolras are before you go wake them up." The voice of their perky blonde friend carried through Enjolras' bedroom door.

The two adults lying in the bed looked at each other and simultaneously said, "Shit." They sprung into action. Éponine would have to cross the living room to get to her room to get any clothes besides her costume from the night previous. Enjolras grabbed a baggy sweatshirt and gym shorts, which he threw to his girlfriend, before grabbing t-shirt, boxers, and his pajama pants for himself.

"Go in the bathroom and turn the shower on. I'll take care of Gavroche and Cosette until you can sneak back to your room to get your own clothes." Enjolras told the girl. She nodded and started doing what he said, but then saw the time.

"Shit! Gabe, we have classes today! All of us." She said.

"Just go. Like I said, I'll take care of Gavroche." He responded. Éponine went into the bathroom, dropped Enjolras' clothes on the floor and jumped in the shower.

Outside of the bathroom, Enjolras walked out of his room and into the hallway, almost running into a bubble of blondeness. "Hey, Cosette. Thanks for bringing Gavroche back. You can be on your way now. See you in your dad's class!" He said, trying to push her out of the hallway and out the door.

"Not so fast, Mister. Did I hear the shower just turn on? If I remember correctly, Éponine has her own bathroom on the opposite side of the apartment…"

"Well, she decided she wanted to shower in ours today. I don't know, I don't pretend to understand the female mind."

"I knew it! I know what you did. I just knew the costume would work! Tell Éponine I expect a full report later!" She responded, letting him push her out the door. Once it was closed, he sunk against it. The peace was short lived, as the man remembered the boy Cosette brought back to him.

"What did Miss Cosette mean? What did you and Éponine do?" Gavroche questioned.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it. Did you eat breakfast already?" When the boy nodded, Enjolras continued. "Then go get dressed and ready for school. Don't come out of your room until I come get you, okay?" The boy eyed him suspiciously, but nodded and went into his room.

Enjolras went back to his room to clean up and got dressed himself. He made a pile of Éponine's wonderful costume pieces, stripped the bed, and put new sheets on it. He would do laundry after Éponine and Gavroche left for class. He heard the shower turn off, and looked up as the door opened. How was it possible that she looked as good in his old high school physics sweatshirt as she did in her sexy Halloween costume? She really was a goddess. He walked up to her, put his hands on her hips, and kissed her lightly.

"You are beautiful, Éponine Jondrette." He told her. She blushed.

"Where is Gavroche?" She asked.

"He's in his room. I told him to stay there until I come to get him."

"Thank you. I have to go finish getting ready for class." She said, sneaking out of his embrace to go to her own room. Once he saw her close the door to her room, he knocked on Gavroche's door.

"You can come out now. You have about ten minutes before I'll walk you to school." Gavroche came out of his room.

"Where is Éponine?" He asked.

"She woke up late, so she is still getting ready." Enjolras responded.

"And why did she shower in our bathroom instead of her own?" The boy asked.

"Because, like I told Cosette, I have no idea. She wanted to? If there's one thing I can teach you about the female species, it's to never try to understand them." The boy nodded and walked past the man, into the living room. Enjolras sunk against the wall, glad he had kept their secret from the boy, if not the blonde. He stood and walked back into his room to finish getting ready for the day.

When Éponine arrived at Intro to Child Psych that day, she noticed that there was not a seat open next to her boyfriend. Instead, there was a seat open between Azelma and Cosette. Begrudgingly, she sat down in it.

"So-" Cosette began.

"Can we wait until after class to do this?" The brunette responded, not letting either of them begin their questioning. "We can go to lunch, just like we did for Azelma?"

The other two girls looked at each other before nodding. Éponine looked past both her blonde friend and the blonde's boyfriend at Enjolras. She mouthed "Help Me." Which he just chuckled and shook his head at.

After class, Éponine told Enjolras that she couldn't go to lunch with him, which he just laughed and kissed her forehead, saying he would see her after classes were over. She trudged back to where the other two girls were waiting for her. "I guess I'm all yours." She said, smiling and then rolling her eyes. They took off towards the Union to get lunch. They sat in their same secluded corner.

"We should really just make this a regular monthly thing. Or weekly! We don't have nearly enough time together, just us girls." Cosette gushed. The Jondrette sisters looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Whatever you want, 'Sette. Whatever you want." Éponine said.

"But we aren't here for just any girl talk. I want the deets, 'Ponine!" The blonde squealed.

"Yeah, what exactly happened? Cosette just said you had a fun adventure last night…" Azelma said.

"Well, when we got back to our apartment, without Gav, we sort of- You know…" Éponine trailed off.

"No way! Éponine! Why didn't you tell me!?" Her sister squealed, almost as high pitched as Cosette's.

"I just did!" Éponine protested.

"But how? How did it happen?!" Cosette asked.

"Well, we got back into the apartment. He held the door for me and everything, but I didn't even have time to kick off my shoes before I was up against the door…" She started to explain.

"So he likes it rough?" Azelma pondered.

"No! Yes? I don't know! I'm not doing this." Éponine said, starting to stand.

"Oh, 'Ponine. Sit back down! You don't have to tell us the whole story." Cosette said. The brunette did as directed, sighing.

"Just tell us what you want to. There has to be something you want to get off your chest about it." Azelma prompted.

"Umm. It was kind of sort of amazing?" Éponine said before hiding her head in her hands.

"Do you regret it?" Azelma asked.

"No! Not at all. I mean, he was so gentle and kind, after the whole throwing-against-the- door thing. And then waking up with him this morning… It just seemed so- right?" She said, turning her statement into a question again.

"Awwww!" The other girls gushed. "'Ponine, you're in love." Cosette said.

"You think so?"

"I know so. But that's not all we have to talk about. Azelma, how are you doing?" Cosette asked.

"Well, we go for the six week appointment on Saturday. But so far, I've only had a little bit of nausea, and we decided that it was due to smells. Antoine bought me a new kind of shampoo that isn't as potent, and he stopped wearing overdoses of cologne. Otherwise, I feel fine. I guess we'll figure out more Saturday." The youngest girl shared.

"I'm so happy for you 'Zel." Her sister said. "I'm proud of you, too. I don't think I could handle this while still in school."

"Me neither. Marius and I talked about timelines a little bit when we found out you were pregnant. He told me he's already gotten Daddy's permission, and he'll probably propose sometime soonish, but we won't get married until after I graduate. We decided not to have kids until he has a steady job, so we won't have to move around. He's going to law school next year, after all. We're hoping he can stay here, but we'll just have to wait and see. I would really like to stay close to Mom and Dad, if we can."

Before her father got a steady job at the University, he didn't really have a steady teaching job. Éponine knew that as a kid, Cosette was uprooted a couple of times, changing families, as well as moving from place to place. She understood that she didn't want that for her child or children, just as much as Éponine wanted her children to have loving parents who could afford and want to take care of them.

"Well, I'd love to talk longer, but I do have another class today. I'll see you later, okay?" Éponine said, standing up from their table. The other girls said goodbye and went back to chatting about who knows what, and Éponine made her way to her last class of the day.

That night, Enjolras took Gavroche to buy a birthday present for one of his friends who was having a party that weekend, so Éponine had the house to herself. She decided it was time to start planning. She still hadn't told anyone except Azelma, but if she was going to try and figure it out before the end of the semester, she needed to get started. There were only a couple of weeks until Thanksgiving, and everyone knew the only thing that any college kid got done after Thanksgiving was studying for finals. So she set to work. She gathered all of the files she had on the Gavroche situation, and settled down to work.

When the boys got back to the apartment, Éponine had fallen asleep on her laptop. Enjolras sent Gav to his room to do his homework as he walked over to the girl. He smiled at her fondly before laying her down on the couch and moving her laptop and papers to cover her with a blanket. However, when he lifted the computer, he must have hit a key, because it woke the computer up and what he saw astounded him. It was a news article from five years prior.

_**Boy found Toddling on the Streets**_

Underneath was a picture of what must have been a young Gavroche. Intrigued, he sat down in the loveseat and began to read the article.

_Tuesday, March 11_

_Dr. Jean Valjean, a professor of Children Psychology at Saint Michel University was walking home from classes one afternoon, when he saw a toddler in the middle of the street. He ran out to the boy, and picked him, safely reaching the sidewalk before looking around for the boy's parents. Upon seeing none, the professor asked the boy if he knew where his parents were. When the boy just shook his head, the professor asked what his name was. The boy responded "Gavroche." Valjean continued asking questions, finding out the boy was three-years-old, and didn't want to go home. The professor took the boy with him to the orphanage his wife ran, and called the police from there. Inspector Javert took charge of the situation, but when the boy's parents were revealed as the alleged criminals, Helena and Claude Thenardier, the state took him into custody and let him stay at the orphanage under the Valjean's. The Thenardiers have two teenage girls, one fourteen, the other thirteen, but the state has deemed them safe in their home._

After reading the article, he had already heard the story and wasn't too alarmed, Enjolras looked at the other pages that had been on Éponine's lap. He gasped after looking at Éponine and Azelma's birth certificates, which were in the pile. The parents listed were none other than Helena and Claude Thenardier.

**A/N: So, kind of intense ending. I know it's not a totally realistic story, but we can pretend, right? The whole foster home thing is kind of really screwed up in America, I don't know about other places. But I'll get off my soapbox.**

**Sorry about kind of going MIA. I've been swamped with work and getting back together with friends and everything involved with the ending of a school year. But I remembered to update today, so that's a good thing, right?**

**Hmmm, what should my question be this week? Let's go with something kind of simple. What's your favorite color? But try and be creative, like turquoise or scarlet or something. Yeah, with that dumb thing, I'll see you next week for the next chapter! Keep Calm and Love Aaron Tveit!**


	15. Chapter 15: Announcement Part 2

"Gabe! What are you doing?" Éponine said, waking up at his gasping.

"You're his sister?" Éponine froze. "I read the article. I saw Azelma and your own birth certificates. Éponine, why didn't you tell me?" He asked.

She looked down at her hands, twisting them, like Azelma does, like Gavroche does. Watching her, he realized all of the ways she and Gav were similar. He wondered why he hadn't seen it before. "I only told Azelma a few weeks ago. I didn't want to get anyone else involved, especially not him. My parents aren't good people, as you can tell from the article. If they find out, I'm not sure what they'll do." She said.

"But you knew the whole time." He said, remembering how she froze in Valjean's office the first time they met the boy. "Éponine, you have to tell him. He can't be in the dark about this."

"I know, but I have to figure out what I'm going to do, first. I can't get his hopes up if I can't do anything about it. Gabe, I can't let him go back to the orphanage, but I don't know how to keep him. I'm just a college student. They have no reason to accept me as his legal guardian."

"But he's your brother. The government doesn't want to fund him unless there's no one else who will." Enjolras explained.

"Yes, but just because I will, doesn't mean I can. I hardly have the means to support myself, much less an eight-year-old kid! I don't know what I can do." She said. He stood up, setting the papers and laptop down where he was sitting, and climbed onto the couch with her, wrapping her in his arms. She buried her head in his chest. She didn't cry, but she whimpered for a while, as he rubbed circles in her back and brushed his hair through his fingers.

When she composed herself, he lifted her chin to look at him. "Éponine, I'll help you. You're not alone in this. I don't want to see him go back to the orphanage any more than you do. No matter how kind and caring Fantine is, the state doesn't give her enough money, and she doesn't have enough time to take care of that many kids." Éponine nodded.

"Let's put this stuff away before Gavroche comes out and finds it. I'll respect your right to tell him in your own time and in your own way as long as you promise me you'll tell him before finals." Enjolras told her. Éponine nodded again, not really trusting her voice yet. They cleaned it all up, putting all the papers back in Éponine's folder, and taking it back to her room. They got a little side-tracked by each other's lips in her room, but about ten minutes later, they fixed their clothes and hair and walked back into the living room to watch TV and do homework.

However, when they reached the living room, they saw Gavroche, sitting on the couch, a picture in his hand. Hearing them come in, the boy looked up at the with tears in his eyes. Éponine immediately rushed over to him, wondering why he was sad, until she saw the picture. Her eyes widened and she took a few steps back.

"What's wrong?" Enjolras said, stepping behind the couch to see the picture. When he saw it, his eyebrows shot up, and he just looked at Éponine.

"Why didn't you tell me?" The boy asked.

"Wha- Wh- What do you mean?" Éponine asked, trying to feign innocence.

"You know what I mean! This is you and Azelma! And the baby looks just like me! You are my sister and you never bothered to tell me!" He yelled at her. She looked at Gabe for help, but he was still frozen.

"Gav-"

"No! Don't try to tell me I don't understand! I understand perfectly fine. You didn't want me to know so you wouldn't have to keep in contact with me when the semester is over. You don't want me anymore than they did!" He screamed. He took the picture and ran off to his room slamming the door. Éponine tried to run after him, but Gabe caught her.

"Ép, think about this before you do anything. Don't make it worse than it already is." He warned before letting her go, tears in her eyes.

She ran to his door and threw it open. She saw him on his bed, furiously writing in his journal. She raced over to the bed, and tore the notebook out of his hands. "You can't do that! It's against the rules! You are going to fail this class!" He shouted, reaching for the notebook, but she just threw it behind her, across the room.

"Gav, please. Please listen to me! I can explain, but only if you'll let me." They were both sobbing, but he put down his pencil and stopped fighting her after a few moments. "Thank you." She said. He just looked at her, waiting for her to explain herself. "I know you're mad and you don't really know what to think about this, but if you just let me explain, I'll let you write whatever you want about me afterwards. Just please, leave Gabe out of it. He only just found out half an hour before you did."

He giggled and said, "Yeah, then you made out in your room with the door closed." She playfully glared at him, before turning serious again.

"I knew who you are the first time I laid eyes on you in Dr. Valjean's office. You've obviously grown up, but your face is still the same as it was when I last saw your three-year-old self. I let it go, not knowing what to make of my knowledge yet. I didn't know Gabe very well back then, and thought you might get placed with someone else if I told Dr. Valjean you were my brother. I really was just so happy to see you again. The fact you were happy, healthy, smart, and alive relieved me so much. When Mom and Father left you on the street when I was thirteen, I didn't know what had happened to you or where you had gone. They said they didn't have enough money to feed all of our mouths, and so they left you out on the street near the university, not caring what would happen to you.

"I practically raised you since they brought you back from the hospital. You were definitely a surprise, and probably a drunken mistake on their part, but I loved you with all my heart. I took you everywhere, except for school, with me, knowing Father despised you and Mom didn't like boys in any capacity. A lot of people asked me if you were my baby, and with all the caring I did for you, and all the questions I got asked, I started saying yes. My baby, Gav. I changed your diapers and fed and bought you formula with money I snuck from Father's wallet. I taught you how to walk and tried to teach you how to talk before they left you. I was devastated.

"When I saw you in that office, I just wanted to get to know you again. I kept it from everyone. The night 'Zel and Courf announced they were pregnant, Rachelle and you were fighting. She yelled your full name, and that's how Azelma found out. Then earlier tonight, I was doing some file searching and reading about guardianship and had all of the files I have about you out. But I fell asleep and Gabe found them. When I woke up, I had to explain it to him. We cleaned it up and he told me he would let me tell you when I was ready, as long as I did tell you. I guess we missed the picture, and when you came out, you found it. I'm sorry that's how you had to find out, but I was going to tell you. Eventually."

She looked at him expectantly for a while, as he comprehended and thought about the story she just told him. "You're looking into guardianship?" He asked, words very punctuated. She nodded.

"I don't, and Gabe agrees, we don't want you to go back to the orphanage at the end of the semester. I want you to live with me. But it's going to be hard. I'm just a poor college student. I don't have a lot of money and if we have to take the case to court, it's going to be expensive. But I love you, Gav. I want you to stay with me." Both siblings had tears in their eyes. "With your permission, of course." She finished. He just launched himself into her arms. The held each other crying for a long time.

"Of course I want to come live with you, Eppy." He said, pulling away and wiping his eyes with the back of his arm. There was a knock on the door. The siblings looked up, and saw Gabe in the doorway.

"Can I come in now?" He asked. Éponine looked at Gavroche, who nodded. He came over and sat on the bed next to Gav. "I'm going to do some of my own research, and if you'll let me, I want to help you with the law side of this, Ép." She smiled brightly at her boyfriend. "We are going to win this, Éponine. Together, we are going to win you custody of Gavroche." He told her. She jumped up and kissed him, not caring her brother was next to her making gagging noises. He kissed her back, but pulled back quickly.

Turning to the boy, he asked, "Is everything okay now?" When he nodded, Enjolras asked, "Is your homework done?" The boy nodded again. "How about we all break the rules and play Minecraft for a while?" Gavroche nodded enthusiastically and ran out of the room, eager to start the game and choose the map. Éponine kissed her boyfriend again before taking his hand and walking out into the living room.

Friday night found the whole group sitting around Cosette and Marius' apartment, again, eating nachos. The kids were eating at the coffee table while the adults just had to make do with their laps, or partners. The day before, Éponine and Gavroche had gone over and told Azelma about their conversation the night before. There were more tears shed, and they sat on the couch in Éponine's apartment going through all of the papers Éponine had gathered about their family. She had a couple clear sheet protectors that held the few pictures that had been taken of her or her siblings when they were younger and still together that they went through.

When most everyone was done eating, Éponine stood up. "While this is going to be no where near as grand or exciting as Azelma and Courfeyrac's announcement a couple months ago, Gavroche has something he wants to share." Her brother bounced over to stand next to her.

"I found my parents. I mean, I found out who they are." The whole room, minus Enjolras, Éponine, and Azelma gasped.

"Gav, that's so exciting!" Rachelle squealed.

"It's really not. They are really bad people, who left me on the street, 'Elle." He said, frowning. The little girl's face fell. "But, some good news came of it. I found out I have two older sisters." He said. Everyone's smiles came back.

"Did you meet them yet?" Cosette asked.

"Yeah, and so have you." He told the blonde. "Allow me to introduce my sisters, Éponine and Azelma Thenardier." Everyone looked shocked. Their glances shifted between the three siblings, noticing similarities between the three. After a few silent moments, Courfeyrac spoke up.

"But your last names aren't Thenardier, they are Jondrette." Éponine nodded.

"When I left my parents' house, after I turned eighteen, I legally changed my name to Éponine Raina Jondrette, and Azelma insisted on doing the same when she came to college. I wanted to be disassociated with those miscreants that call themselves our parents. But our names used to be Thenardier, like Gavroche." She explained.

"So you knew the whole time and didn't tell anyone?" Cosette asked the two sisters.

"I didn't know, not until Rachelle yelled at him, using his full name. I asked Éponine about it that night and she confirmed my suspicions."

Éponine just nodded. "I knew it from the first time Gabe and I met him. I practically raised the boy until our parents threw him out. There was no way I could ever mistake him for anyone else." She said, tearing up again.

"Eppy, it's okay." The boy said, reaching up to wrap his arms around her waist. She nodded and wiped her eyes.

"What are you going to do now? Are you going to let him go back to the orphanage?" Jehan asked. Enjolras shook his head and answered this time.

"No. We are doing research and we are going to make a case for Éponine to become his legal guardian. There's really no reason for the government to say no. She is over eighteen and we have been running numbers since we all found out. She makes enough to support both of them. Barely, but enough. They will have to get a house or apartment off-campus, since the dorms, except this one, don't allow children, but we can make it work." He said.

"Well, I guess you're lucky you've got this one wrapped around your little finger, 'Ponine. No one has ever lost to him in a debate, and he's studying to be a lawyer! You couldn't have picked a better boyfriend for your situation!" Grantaire said, somewhat sarcastic.

"I know." She said, kissing his cheek.

"Yuck." Julien said from his seat on the floor.

"I don't mind it as much anymore." Gavroche admitted. Rachelle gasped. Gavroche just looked at her with a weird look. "What now?" He snapped.

Her face melted into a star-crossed lover look. "You're growing up!" She squealed before jumping up to hug him. He just rolled his eyes, but smiled as he hugged the girl back. The adults laughed, and everyone sat back down, continuing their conversation.

A while later, the kids had gone into Rachelle's room. "Éponine, you should probably tell my parents. They can probably help you. And Mom will want to know if you are trying to get him out of the orphanage." Cosette said.

"Fantine already knows. I haven't told her I'm trying to win custody, but she helped me confirm that he was our brother. I'll tell Dr. Valjean after class tomorrow, and then go to the orphanage to tell your mom." The blonde nodded.

"Wow, it's kind of unbelievable." Grantaire said. The rest of the students in the room nodded.

Later, in their own apartment, Éponine was lying in Enjolras' bed, clad in one of his sweatshirts and boxers, she was cuddled up next to her boyfriend. "Gabe, I wanted to ask you earlier, but thought I would wait until we were alone."

"What is it, Ép?" He replied.

"What did you mean, we'll make it work? When you were talking about the case and finances you said 'we can make it work.'" She asked.

"I meant whatever you wanted me to mean. I'm more than willing to help you with caring for Gavroche, even after this project is over. You two mean a lot more to me than just a grade." He admitted. Her eyes widened. "I know you probably won't let me, but I'll help you pay for anything. I'll take him off your hands when you need to work or be alone. Ép, I'll do whatever you want me to do."

"Gabe, I love you." She said before leaning up and kissing him. It was a sweet passionate kiss, but he was caught off guard by her comment. He gently pushed her away.

"What did you say?" He asked. She rolled her eyes before repeating herself.

"I love you. I know we haven't been together long, but I really do believe I love you. If Courfeyrac and Azelma can have a baby, then I think I can say I love you." She said, honestly, looking into her boyfriend's eyes.

"Oh, Ép. I love you, too." He responded, before pulling her in for another kiss. The kiss became more passionate and more intense. Soon, the few clothes they had on, as pajamas, were thrown off and onto the floor. They tried to stay quiet, but figured they might have some explaining to Gavroche to do the next morning.

**A/N: Hoped you liked this one. It's not so fluffy, but a lot of big things come of it. It's kind of important to the plot of the story. Just a little. Anyways, I hope all of you are doing great and if you're finishing up with your school year, hang in there! You're almost done! If you are already done, congratulations, you made it! If you work all year or are on a different schedule than America (sorry, I don't actually know what parts of the world start school at what times), keep doing great, you're awesome.**

**Question for this week, inspired by my avid Minecraft obsession when I'm at home without my brothers, what's your favorite video game? Read and review and have a great week! Until next time!**


	16. Chapter 16: Plans

Éponine did as she told Cosette she would. After class the next day she told Dr. Valjean about Gavroche and her idea to win custody. He thought about it for a while, and decided that he wouldn't change anything about her project and told her that if she required any assistance from himself, not to hesitate to ask.

She then went to the orphanage, with Enjolras, and told Fantine of her plans to get Gavroche to come stay with her after the semester was over. Fantine was super excited and said that she would help in any way possible, already going over some of the forms she and her brother would have to fill out. Éponine didn't really understand a lot of it, but Enjolras was very attentive and actually knew about a lot of them. He asked for copies of the ones they could fill out before the court date, which she readily gave him. After their meeting with Fantine, Enjolras took her to lunch at a delicious Chinese restaurant close by, and then dropped her off at class.

The next few weeks were spent preparing their case. Enjolras spent a lot of time locked up in his room, going over what they needed to present to the judge. Some days, Éponine had to force him to come out and eat, or do his real homework.

One night, a week before Thanksgiving, he came out of his room with a giant grin on his face. He walked right up to his girlfriend, who was making chicken patties for dinner, lifted her up, kissed her, and spun her around. "Not that I'm not ecstatic about that kiss, but why?" She asked, once she was back on her feet.

"I got us a court date!" He exclaimed. Éponine soon had a grin matching his on her face.

"Really? That's amazing, Gabe!" She said, leaning up to kiss him again. "You're amazing, did you know that?" She asked.

"Yeah. I did. But thanks." He said, smirking. She turned back to the meal she was preparing, but he had different ideas. He stood behind her, putting his arms around her waist, and his chin on her head, swaying back and forth.

"Gabriel! Let me cook dinner! We can celebrate later." She said, trying to push him away, but laughing.

"Ummm, no." He said, pretending to think about it.

"I have a child to feed, as well as the two of us, you know." She tried.

"Still don't care." He said, not letting her go.

"Hmmm. I guess I just won't be able to please you later if you keep distracting me and I burn down the kitchen." She said, grinding her hips back on his. She felt his grip on her waist tighten significantly. "Oh, you like that?" She said, coyly. She felt him nod. "Too bad." She said, slapping his hands and butt-bumping him away from her.

He feigned hurt, but sat down to watch her cook, instead. Soon, it was ready and Éponine called her brother in from the living room where he was playing LEGO Marvel on the XBOX. They ate in silence for a while, before Éponine asked, "When is the court date?"

"The week before finals. It's on Thursday afternoon. One oh five, to be precise." The girl nodded.

"Does Gavroche have to be there?" Enjolras nodded. "I guess you can miss one afternoon of school." She told the boy. He grinned, and mouthed a thank you to Enjolras.

"No problem, little buddy. I'm just excited that you won't have to go back to the orphanage when this is all over." The man said, ruffling the boy's hair.

"It's not a done deal yet." Éponine said, sternly.

"There's no reason that they would say I can't live with you, Éponine! They can't!" Gavroche said.

"Gavroche, there is a chance that we will have over-looked something and they won't let you live with me."

"They have to let me! I don't know what else I would do." He said. He jumped out of his chair and ran into his room, slamming the door. Éponine just looked at Enjolras, who sighed and went to try and talk to the boy.

"Gav, will you come out?" Enjolras asked, through the shut door. He heard a hmph from the other side. "Will you talk to me?"

"No." Gavroche said.

"Will you let me in, at least?" The man asked.

"It's not locked." The boy replied, snappily. Enjolras slowly twisted the knob and walked into the room. He walked over to the bed, and sat down towards the top, near the boy's head.

They just sat for a while, the older student wanting to give the younger time to think. The boy spoke first. "What happens if they say no?" He asked.

"You'll just go back to the orphanage." Enjolras replied, simply.

"But, will you come visit me? You and Éponine? Or will you just forget about me?" The boy asked, shyly, fearful of the answer.

"Gavroche! Why would you ever think that? Éponine is your sister, she didn't forget you in the five years since she saw you last. Do you really think she's just going to give up on you if we don't win custody?" The boy shook his head, but Enjolras wasn't done. "And we're friends, at the very least, right? You know I think of you like the little brother I was never fortunate enough to have. Sometimes, I think that you are my own kid. I don't think your sister and I could live without you anymore than you couldn't live without us." Gavroche nodded again, and wiped his eyes. "Are you ready to go finish your dinner?" Enjolras asked.

The boy nodded, and stood. Right before the two guys reached the door, Gavroche turned and embraced the older man. Enjolras hugged him tightly. When they pulled away, Gavroche turned his back and said, "We don't have to tell Éponine that happened. It wasn't very manly." Enjolras just laughed and agreed.

"Next week, you obviously won't have class. If you are leaving campus, you have two choices. You can bring your assigned child back to the orphanage on Sunday, between one and four, or you can take them with you. Remember, either you or your partner has to be in the same building as them during break. For this week, only, you cannot have a sitter. Someone in this class has to watch them if you are unavailable or unable to." Dr. Valjean said. "Any questions?" When none were asked he continued. "You are free to go now. Just a catch-up class today. Any other questions, see me after class."

Éponine grabbed her coat, scarf, and bag, heading out of the room. Just as she was turning around to check if Enjolras was following her, he took her hand and started leading her to the union. They chatted, amiably, until they sat down at a table. "What are your plans for break?" She asked him.

"Well, I was meaning to ask you about this before, but I guess I'll just ask now. Would you and Gavroche like to come home with me?" Éponine almost spit out the spoonful of soup she had just put in her mouth.

"What?" She said.

"You heard me. I want you to come home and meet my family. But only if you're comfortable with that." He said, seriously.

"Well, we will have to ask Gavroche, but if you're sure you want your family to meet me, then I would be glad to meet them." She said diplomatically. He leaned over the table to kiss her, and she met him halfway.

"Thank you." He said. She just nodded.

That night when they all got back to the apartment, they asked the boy, who was all for it, wanting to get off campus.

"Are there any other kids?" He asked, the other man.

"Yeah. I have two older sisters, and one is married with two kids, one five and the other two. My eldest sister and her husband also took in my cousin, whose parents died in a car crash, but he's fourteen."

"Awesome! This is going to be so much fun!" The boy jumped around the open space behind the couch.

On Tuesday, two nights before Thanksgiving, the group decided to get together and have their own Thanksgiving dinner in Cosette and Marius' apartment. They split up the cooking ahead of time, as to not have anyone cooking all day, but it was still a lot of work for all involved. Cosette and Marius made the turkey as well as Fantine's famous snicker apple salad. Éponine and Enjolras, with a little help from a wanting-to-be-helpful Gavroche, made the stuffing, pecan, and cherry pies. Azelma and Courfeyrac made rolls, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. Grantaire and Jehan made mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, and macaroni and cheese.

They all gathered all the food in the kitchen for Cosette to arrange before filing into the living room. Marius had rearranged the living room, turning the couch around to face the door, and pulled the kitchen table out to match it. He pulled the loveseat and chair up to the coffee table. Enjolras brought the three kitchen chairs from their apartment to the one in which the dinner would take place, and arranged them around the table.

Cosette came out to notify them that the food was all ready. They proceeded with the youngest, Hillaire and Julien, first, being helped by Jehan and Cosette, and then Rachelle and Gavroche, helping themselves. The rest of the adults filed behind, filled their plates, and went to sit at one of the tables. They ate and chatted until all plates were clear and the guys helped Marius put the living room back in order.

Sitting in the living room after their meal, they went through what everyone was thankful for, starting with the kids, again. "I'm thankful for my family. Gav, Rach, Julien, and R and Jehan. Because I love them." Hillaire said. R scooped her up and snuggled her to him, making the girl giggle.

"I'm thankful for all the yummy food we just ate. And for Hillaire. And Courf and Zel. And also the little baby." Julien's comment was gushed over.

"I'm thankful for all of the wonderful people I've met and the great times I've had since I moved here. I'm thankful for Cosette and Marius. I'm thankful for Hillaire, Julien, and all my other friends. And I'm thankful for Gavroche." Rachelle said the last part shyly, looking away from the boy sitting next to her. He just continued with his own.

"I'm thankful for everyone in this room and everyone at the orphanage and school. I'm thankful for Rachelle." He said, putting an arm around the girl. Éponine thought their relationship was much more mature than any other relationships in the assembled group. They were just so at ease with each other, even though they were thirteen years younger. "I'm thankful that I found my biological family, but I'm also thankful I found the family I belong in. With my sisters and all of our friends. I'm even thankful for my parents leaving me on the street so that I could find you all." The boy said.

"Gavroche, you just knocked anyone else's thankfulness speech out of the park." R said.

"You are wise beyond your years." Enjolras said. Rachelle just leant her head on his shoulder. Everyone else said similar things to the children. After everyone else went, Courfeyrac was the last, since he was the oldest of the group.

"I'm thankful for our awesome group of friends and that we can all be together like this. I'm thankful that everyone else cooks better than I do so that we could have that wonderful meal. I'm thankful to Dr. Valjean for giving us this project so that we could meet and love these great kids. And I'm thankful for the baby. But most of all, I'm thankful for my beautiful girlfriend." He turned to look at Azelma, then knelt down, on one knee, in front of her, putting his hand in his pocket. She eyed him, suspiciously. "Azelma Madelina Jondrette, I love you so much, and don't see that stopping anytime soon. I already love the amazing life inside of you that we created. Will you do me the honor of letting me love you forever and becoming my wife?" He asked, eyes pleading with the woman in front of him.

She looked at him seriously for a few seconds, making sure the jokester was actually being serious. Then a wide smile spread on her face. Courf couldn't stop a grin forming on his, mirroring his girlfriend. "Of course I'll marry you, you doofus!" She said, leaning forward to kiss her, now fiancé. Everyone smiled fondly at the couple, and R started the applause. When they pulled away from each other, he slid the ring onto her finger. It was beautiful with a simple, studded band, and a square, cream colored diamond. Smaller diamonds, like the ones around the band, surrounded the big one.

Not long after the proposal, all the girls finished gushing over the ring, they were calm and sitting back down. "What are you all doing on Thursday?" Cosette asked. "We are taking Rachelle and going to the orphanage to celebrate with Mom, Dad, and the kids there."

"We are just going to stay here with the twins. We thought it best to keep them together for the holiday. We'll probably have another meal, though." Jehan said.

"We are going to visit my parents. I thought it best that they meet my girlfriend, fiancée. They knew about it, but they have never officially met you." He explained.

All eyes went to Éponine, sitting on the floor in front of Enjolras, who was on the couch. "Umm-"

"The three of us are going to my parents' house." Enjolras answered for her. Everyone's eyes widened, except Cosette's.

"That's adorable!" The blonde gushed.

"Why is it adorable for me, and not the one getting married?" Éponine asked her friend.

"It just is." Cosette responded, looking smug and plotful, sneaking a glance at Enjolras. Éponine whipped around to look at her boyfriend, not missing the look.

"What do you know that I don't?" She asked him.

"A lot of things, my dear." He said, leaning down to kiss her forehead. The woman glared at him, but he just shrugged and rejoined the conversation, ignoring her.

Soon, they were all ready to leave. Éponine, Enjolras, and Gavroche were going to be leaving fairly early the next morning, and Azelma was tired from all the activity. They said their goodbyes and everyone split to their own apartments and beds.

**A/N: So this isn't my best writing... It's kind of a scattered chapter. I felt like all the different parts needed to happen, however, none of them were long enough to be their own chapter. This is the result.**

**Guys! I'm running out of chapters! I actually need to crack down and finish this story, and it makes me kind of sad. I don't want this story to end, ever! But I need to finish it so that I can focus on some of my new ideas. I think I have five or six new multi-chaptered stories in the works. Some of them are Les Mis, some aren't. I hope that whenever I start posting them, you check those out.**

**I also have some other beef with all you readers (just kidding, I love you all!) But for real, I don't care a lot about my stats and such, I just like writing and this gives me an outlet for an audience and critique, as well as community. But I was looking at my stats the other day, and realized that my first multi-chaptered fic, Cindermax, posted in the Max Ride fandom, has so much more of everything! This story is written so much better, and in a larger, more involved fandom, I think. So y'all should work on fixing that. I'm not sure how, just do.**

**This was a really long author's note, I apologize. I'll just go now. See you next week when we get more insight into Enjolras' family (I think).**


	17. Chapter 17: Meeting the Family

The next morning, the trio found themselves packed into Enjolras' car, each with a duffle bag of necessities for their three day trip stuffed into his very small trunk. Gavroche was playing on Enjolras' laptop, Éponine was reading a book, and Enjolras was focussed on the road. Enjolras' parents' house was about four hours away from the university. They got up at seven to ensure they would make it for lunch, which would be served anytime between eleven thirty and noon. Enjolras told Éponine that his eldest sister and some conglomerate of her family would probably join them for lunch, but his other sister would probably come that evening or the next morning. She had an internship a couple hours away, so she wasn't sure when she would be able to get off.

After the second hour, the laptop died, so Gavroche settled for listening to Éponine's iPod. Half an hour later, Éponine put down her book, in favor of staring off into the distance. Out of the corner of his eye, Enjolras saw her twisting her hands in her lap. He put a hand on her knee. "Ép, tell me what you're thinking." He requested.

"I guess I'm just nervous to meet your parents. I've never made it far enough into a relationship to get to this stage." She sighed and turned her attention towards him. "I don't have a lot of experience with normal parents. The only ones I really know well are Cosette's."

"Well, I am really glad you are coming and meeting them. They will be thrilled to meet the girl who I finally settled on." He said, winking at her. "Also, my sisters will love to get to know you and Adrienne will gush over Gav."

"That's another thing. How much have you told them about our, er, situation?"

"Which situation? The one in which we are sleeping together? Or the one in which Gavroche is the kid we are taking care of for a grade and also your brother?" He asked, grinning at her.

"Well, both. But mostly the second." She responded, biting her lip to keep from smiling.

"I didn't tell them we are sleeping together, but it is probably inferred. I've told them about Gav, but they don't know he is your brother yet. I think you can decide if and when they learn that fact." She nodded, and looked back out the window, relishing in the feel of Enjolras rubbing circles in her thigh.

"Éponine, don't be nervous. They aren't the most accepting of people, but their opinion doesn't matter. It is our relationship. I love you, and if they don't respect me enough to try and love the two of you, they don't deserve to. If you feel really terrible, we can rent a hotel room and leave tomorrow morning." He told her. She nodded again, not looking at him. She twisted in her seat to see her baby brother.

"Look at him! He fell asleep like that? How do people even fall asleep in moving vehicles?" Éponine said, laughing.

"It is actually very easy, if you are tired enough." Enjolras told her.

"I never could." She said. They fell into a comfortable silence, his hand still on her leg. They didn't speak much more until Enjolras pulled into a gated driveway. Éponine looked up at the house, and then to her boyfriend. "You live here?!" She asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Well, I did." He rolled his window, reached out to press a button. The house in front of her was gigantic. It was two stories, possibly three in some places. It had grey siding and cream siding, except for the jut-out around the front door, which had brown and grey cobblestone. On the left side, a gallant porch could be seen.

"How may I help you?" A very formal voice said.

"Oh, Jonathan, don't tell me you forgot about me!" He said into the speaker.

"Master Gabriel! I'll open the gates right away, sir."

"Thank you, Jonathan. No need to announce my arrival to my parents. I'll let them be terrified someone snuck into the house." He said. As the large, black, iron gates opened, Éponine heard a hearty laugh from the other side of the speaker.

"Will do. Garage four is empty for you, sir." Enjolras just nodded before pulling forward, through the gates and following the drive to the back of the house, where there were three, large, two-car garages. The place for the fourth car, sure enough, was open, and empty. Enjolras pulled his car into it, turned off the ignition, and then opened the door, climbing out.

"You have a butler?" Éponine asked, climbing out of the car.

"Yeah. Jonathan takes care of all of the household things. He manages the cook staff, the cleaning staff, the yard-workers, and is head of all security." Enjolras said, shrugging. "You wanna wake up Gav and I'll grab our bags?" He asked her.

She nodded, grabbed her backpack, closed her door, and opened the back door. She gently pushed Gavroche, who responded immediately. "Wh-Who-What is happening? Where are we? Are we here?!" He said, slowly gaining his bearings.

"Yes, we are here. Clean up the mess you made, wipe the drool off your face, and let's go meet Gabe's parents." She told him, ruffling his hair.

"Don't touch my hair!" He told her. Éponine walked to the trunk. Gabe already had all of their bags out, but they filled his arms.

"You wanna shut that?" He asked. She nodded and did so. He leaned over to her and gave her a peck on the lips. "Remember, no matter what happens, I love you, and that's what matters." She nodded again, and stepped out of the way, letting him lead the way into his childhood home. Gavroche popped out of the backseat, with his backpack and Enjolras' laptop bag, behind Éponine. Somehow, Enjolras got the door into the house open, and hit the button to close the garage door. The Thenardier's followed him into the mudroom. He hung his keys on a peg, and then proceeded into the next room.

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" He shouted. The room they had just stepped into was a large, beautiful foyer with a grand, sweeping staircase. Enjolras, not fazed by the large-scale building he had grown up in, continued through a large, cream arch, into what looked like a living room, for all Éponine could see from the foyer was a homey fireplace.

"Gabriel! I'm so glad you are here!" A woman's voice exclaimed. As the siblings entered the room, they saw her. She was blonde, like her son, but shorter than him. She was also stockier, where Gabe was lean. She was still gorgeous, even at her older age. She was wearing a grey, silky, formless, short-sleeved shirt, smartly matched with a white skirt with leaf shapes that got denser the closer to the ground the skirt went.

"Hi, Mom. I'm glad to be home." He said, hugging her.

"How are you, son? Why didn't you have Jonathan announce your arrival?" A man stood up from a chair. He looked much like what Éponine pictured Gabe to look like in twenty or thirty years. He was tall and lean, but muscular. He had darker hair than Gabe and his mother, but had the well-defined jaw that Éponine oh-so-loved to run her fingers over-

"And who is this?" The woman's voice interrupted her reverie. "Where are your manners, Gabriel? Please introduce this lovely woman, and handsome boy!" She exclaimed, looking in Eponine's direction.

"Of course. Mom, Dad, this is Gavroche Thenardier, the child I have been taking care of this semester. And this is Éponine Jondrette, my girlfriend. Ép, Gav, this is my mother, Jaquette Enjolras, and my father, Régis Enjolras." He introduced.

"Absolutely! I have heard so much about the both of you! I am very excited that you will be staying in our home. Please, make yourselves at home." Mrs. Enjolras said to them, coming over to hug each of them.

"Thank you. It is very kind of you to let us stay here, Mr. and Mrs. Enjolras." Éponine said.

"Yes. And you have a beautiful home." Gavroche added.

"Oh, no need to be so formal. You can call me Jackie and my husband Régis." Mrs. En- Jackie said. "Gabriel, why don't you show the two of them to their rooms? They can take the two on either side of yours." She told him. "They should be ready for you all."

He nodded, and gathered the bags in his arms again. He went back into the foyer, and began to ascend the staircase, Éponine and Gavroche following. At the top of the staircase, Gabe turned to the right. He turned into the first doorway on the left. "Gav, this is going to be your room for a few days. Try not to make too big of a mess out of it." Enjolras said, winking at the boy. Gavroche plopped on the bed, laying on his back. Gabe threw Gavroche's duffle bag onto the boy's stomach, who, consequently, let out a grunt.

"Thanks for that." He said, but Enjolras was already leading Éponine to the room next door.

"This was my old room. I figured we could put your stuff in your room, but you could actually sleep in here? I mean, only if you want to." Enjolras said, somewhat shyly.

"Yeah. That's fine. I don't think I could stand sleeping in my own bed after all this time." She admitted. He shot her a wide smile.

"Good." He said. He threw his own duffle bag onto his bed and kicked his shoes into a corner, before leading her into the room she was supposed to be sleeping in. He handed her the bag she packed, and plopped onto her bed. "So that wasn't too bad, was it?" He asked her. After slipping her shoes off, she climbed onto the bed next to him.

"No, it wasn't. Your mom is very kind." She said, putting a hand on the bed on either side of his chest.

"Yeah, she just likes playing hostess. Dad will come around. He's a little more marble." Enjolras admitted, as Éponine ran her lips down his jaw, like she had been fantasizing earlier.

"Oh, kind of like this guy I know." She said coyly, looking up at him through her lashes.

"Really? Do I know him?" Gabe said, playing along.

"Nah, but when I first met him, he was pretty cold and distance. But eventually he warmed up to me. And now, he's my best friend and is doing everything he can to help me win custody over my brother." She said, laying on his chest, and wrapping her arms around him. "Did I mention he's extremely attractive and irresistible?" She added.

"Nope, but I think that was implied. He sounds great. Can I meet him sometime? I'm kind of jealous…" He replied, wrapping his arms around her torso.

"I love you, Gabriel Enjolras." She said, leaning up to kiss him. It didn't last long before they heard a gasp and "oops" come from the doorway. "Gav, you can come in." She called, rolling off her boyfriend. Slowly, a mop of dirty blonde hair and blushed skin peeked around the framework.

"Is it safe?" He asked.

"Yep." Enjolras responded. Suddenly, a weight landed on the bed.

"I love your house, Gabe. It's huge!" Gavroche said.

The older man chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it is. I just don't really notice. It's just the house that I used to play in with my sisters. This room was the girls' playroom. They had all kinds of dolls and makeup they used to put on me and make me play with in here." Enjolras told the boy.

"Ew! Why would you let them do that?" He asked.

"I was the baby brother, I didn't have much choice. If I wanted to play with someone, I had to do what the girls wanted to do." He told him, chuckling at the memories. "You probably would have had to deal with similar things, had you stayed at home."

"I'm glad I got out of that one!" The boy said.

"I skipped the baby doll stage, I had a real live baby to take care of." Éponine said. "And we didn't have any makeup until we were much older." She shared.

"Gabriel! Your sister is here! Come downstairs, please!" The trio heard Jackie yell up the stairs.

"Ready to meet more family?" He asked. Both siblings steeled their faces and nodded. "Good." With that, they headed out of the room.

**A/N: That's that. You've met Jackie and Regis. Not too painful, right? Just wait until you meet the rest of the family! I struggle greatly with Enjolras' family. I like them cold and conservative to his liberalness. I like the stories in which he is cut off from them, but I also like them being welcoming to Eponine, since she doesn't have real parents to look up to. And then the siblings thing... I like him being an only child, but I also like the sisters I've made for him. If you want to talk more about my headcanons, you can always message me about them. I'd love to chat.**

**I hope that everyone who just started summer is having a great time of it. I already got my first sunburn of the season, so that's great. I'm hoping I have lots of time to write this summer and have some new stories coming your way in the fall. Read, review, and have a great week!**


	18. Chapter 18: Meeting the Family Part 2

When they reached the room they had met Enjolras' parents in, there were three more bodies there. One was a beautiful, tall, blonde woman. She was in the midst of a conversation with Jackie when Éponine happened upon the room. She was dressed in a white halter top dress. It had pale pink flowers covering it, and was very vintage looking. She had on nude heels, not that she needed them.

The next was a small girl. She had brown, long hair, and big brown eyes. She was sitting on Regis' lap. Next to them was an even younger boy with curly blonde hair and blue eyes, like Gabe's. He was climbing up onto the man, trying to push the older girl off.

"Ooo! You must be Éponine!" A shrill squeal sounded. Éponine's attention shifted towards the gorgeous woman who had spoken. "'El, you have to introduce us!" She said.

_Who is 'El?_ Éponine thought, but was answered when Enjolras stepped forward. "Nice to see you, too, Adélaïde. This is Gavroche Thenardier, the child I have been taking care of this semester. And this is the beautiful Éponine Jondrette. Éponine, Gavroche, this is my eldest sister, Adélaïde Leclair, and her two children, Pénélope and Théo. Shall we sit?" He suggested.

Éponine smiled at the woman. There was a couch, in which the two children and their grandparents were sitting. In front of it was a coffee table, and two chairs on the opposite side. Adélaïde sat in one, and Gavroche occupied one at the head of the coffee table, in direct view of the fireplace. That only left one chair for Éponine and Enjolras. Enjolras sat down, and before she could say anything, he had pulled her into his lap, gracefully.

"Oh! You are too cute!" Adélaïde exclaimed. "So, how did you meet?" She asked.

"Umm, a mutual friend. Then we paired up for The Kid Project, and the rest is history." Éponine said, feeling a little uncomfortable.

"How long did it take for you to actually crack the marble?" Jackie asked.

"Uh-"

"Mom." Enjolras warned.

"Oh, right. We don't want her running off, now do we! Not the girl who won over my son's unwinnable heart." She said, tickling Pénélope.

The group fell into easy conversation. Éponine learned that Pénélope was five, and while very smart, very shy. She also learned that Théo was two, and was already talking fairly well. She learned that Adélaïde didn't work and her husband, Gilbert, and their adopted son, who was also Enjolras, Adélaïde, and Adrienne's cousin, Zacharie, were working on a project at home and couldn't make it for lunch, but they would come for dinner and definitely Thanksgiving tomorrow.

After a while, Jonathan came in and told them lunch was ready. Jonathan was a tall, slender man with very little hair on his head. He had glasses on and wore all black. Over all, he looked very stately and, well, butler-ish. He lead them into the dining room, which was through the foyer and under the stairs. It was a very ornate dining room, but set with very normal dishes. Régis sat at one end of the table, while Jackie took her place at the other. Adélaïde sat to the right of her mother, and Gabe at the left of his father, leaving a place in between for Éponine. The three children sat on the other side. There was already a booster seat to the right of Jackie for Théo, and his sister sat next to him. Gavroche sat to the right of Régis and across from Enjolras.

Several younger looking ladies brought in trays and set two salad bowls on the middle of the table, much like at Olive Garden, and served each person with a chicken salad sandwich. One girl was coming around and filling everyone's glasses with water at the same time. Gavroche just looked up at Éponine, concern and surprise evident on his face. She smiled sweetly back at him, trying to tell him to relax and just eat normally. They ate and were companionable. Gavroche even made decent conversation with Régis, and many bellowing laughs were heard from the older man. Jackie and Adélaïde continued to pry into Éponine and Enjolras' relationship, but she had regained her footing and could handle their questioning.

"Éponine, what is your family like? Are they a family I would be acquainted with? I'm sure they love that you and Gabriel are dating." Adélaïde asked. Éponine looked down at her food.

"'Laide!" Enjolras said chastisingly to his sister, then to Éponine, "You don't have to answer that."

She shook her head before answering. "My parents don't know Gabe. My brother and sister adore him, but I hope, for everyone's sake, he never meets my parents." She didn't look up, but after speaking, she set her fork down, lifted her napkin off her lap, and set it on her plate. "May I use the restroom?" She asked, standing. Gabe, being the first to recover, shook his head and stood up next to her.

"Of course, I'll show you." He said, taking hold of her elbow and showing her out of the room. Once they were out in the foyer again, Enjolras spoke.

"Éponine, you didn't have to answer. Adélaïde was just prying where she doesn't belong and doesn't know anything about. Are you okay?" He asked, noticing she wasn't looking at him. She shook her head. "Oh, Éponine. What's wrong? Please talk to me." He said, wrapping her in his arms. She tucked her head into his chest.

"I meant what I said. I never want you to meet my parents. They wouldn't like me dating you, and even if they did, it would just be to try and con money out of you. If they ever find us again, I don't know what they will do. Now that I have Gav- Oh, Gabe." She said, burying herself deeper.

"Shh, I won't let anything happen to you or Gav. You know that. Éponine, I love you and I will do anything for you. Nothing Adélaïde or my parents or anyone else says can change that fact." He rubbed her back and played with her hair until she calmed down enough. "There. Are you better now? Do you want to come back in and finish eating?" He asked her. She nodded. "Good. Come on." He said, as he wiped the few tears that spilled out, off of her beautiful face.

He wrapped his hand around her waist and they walked back into the dining room. They walked around the table and he pulled out her chair for her. She sat down and shot a thankful glance at him. He sat next to her, but kept his left hand on her knee as they finished eating.

After the end of the tense meal, Enjolras announced that he had some work to do and he would be in his room for a while. Éponine and Gavroche stayed downstairs with the rest of the family. Gavroche was playing with Pénélope and Théo, who found Gabe's old LEGO sets. Éponine was sitting in the same chair as before, half listening to Adélaïde catch up with her parents, half lost in her own world of thought. She pulled out her phone and saw she had a couple of messages from Azelma, one from Cosette, and one from Grantaire.

_AJ: Did you make it okay?_

_AJ: Let me know if you need anything. How is meeting the parents?_

_CF: They aren't too scary, are they?_

_HG: How are Régis and Jackie treating you? Drop my name if they start getting too harsh on you, they love me. :) Hang in there, kid._

She responded to all of them, saying they had made it to the Enjolras estate and that it wasn't too bad, yet. After that, she decided to go upstairs to work on some of her own homework. She excused herself and found her way to the room she and Enjolras were going to sleep in. She knocked and walked in.

"Hey. Everything okay?" He asked her as she sat next to him on the bed.

"Yeah. I just wanted to work on some homework. Your parents, Adélaïde, and the kids are still downstairs." She told him.

He nodded, and she pulled out a book she was supposed to be reading for her English class. After a while, she got bored of the book. She closed it and set it on the bedside table. She glanced at the beautiful man next to her before curling up next to him. She put her head on his shoulder, wrapped her arms around his torso, and just sat, watching him work. He was taking notes while reading something on his iPad.

"Can I help you, Miss Jondrette?" He asked, not looking up at her.

"Nope. I'm just fine where I am." She responded.

"Well, you are inhibiting my ability to take notes by taking my shoulder captive."

"What are you going to do about it?" She asked, coyly, moving her head up to kiss up his neck.

"Éponine-" He sighed as her lips moved to his jaw. "What am I going to do with you?" He set his iPad and notebook to the side, turning to take her into his arms. He kissed her squarely on the mouth. When they pulled back, both breathless, he said, "You just wanted cuddle time. That's why you came up here, isn't it?"

"No, I actually wanted to get some work done, which I did. But it was boring. You are much more fun to do than homework." She said, winking at him. They both laughed at her innuendo. He pulled her close, hugging her on the bed.

"I love you. I don't know what I would do without you." He told her. She lifted her head and captured his lips in a sweet, loving kiss.

"I love you, too. Now, I'm tired." She said, rolling over to take a nap.

"I guess I'll join you, since you trapped my arm under you." He said, lying down next to her.

"Because I'm so heavy to lift and get your arm back." She commented.

"Miss Jondrette, if I didn't know better, I would think you didn't want me to sleep with you." He said.

"I don't." She said, eyes closed.

"Fine. I'll go back to taking notes." He said, pulling his arms from around her. She whimpered. "Oh. I thought you might." He said, chuckling.

"I'm just cold. I don't need you." She said.

"Just admit it, Ép." He said, burying his face in her hair. "You need me. You want me." He said, smiling against her neck.

"Never." She said, a smile on her face as well.

**A/N: This was a shorter chapter, but the next will make up for it. It's pretty long. Guys, I have very exciting news! I finished writing this story! I have a few tweaks to make to the ending, but I have a couple of questions.**

**1\. If anyone knows anything about the kind of court case that would be ensuing for Eponine to gain custody of Gavroche, please let me know. I'm completely clueless.**

**2\. About Azelma/Courf's baby... Do you want it to be a boy or a girl? Do you have preferred names? Let me know!**

**3\. Do you want a sequel that has the second semester of the school year in it? I have a few ideas, but if you wouldn't be interested, especially since the epilogue of this one is the following summer, I won't write it.**

**Please let me know your ideas. I'd like to get lots more reviews on this story! It's seriously lacking. But that isn't the most important thing to me. I got two PMs this week that were seriously the sweetest and inspired me to finish this story. You probably know who you are, but thank you so much! Read, review, and have a great week!**


	19. Chapter 19: Family Dinner

A few hours later, Éponine was awoken to a weight landing on her feet. "Eppy! Wake up! It's time for supper! You have to come meet Adrienne. She's really nice and pretty. Even prettier than Cosette. But not prettier than you."

"Woah, slow down, Gav. Give me a second to wake up before you start complimenting me. I want to be awake to hear my praise." She said, sitting up.

"Gabe's sister, Adrienne, got here just a little bit ago. You were still asleep, but she said I was a handsome young man!" He said, very proudly. "I think you'll really like her. Come on! Get up!" He exclaimed, pulling on her arms.

"Where's Gabe?" She asked, slowly getting up and walking over to the mirror above the dresser. Her hair was a mess, but after brushing it out quickly and slapping her cheeks a couple times, she looked fine.

"He's downstairs. He said you were taking a nap and when Jonathan said it was time for dinner, he told me to come get you. I'm hungry. Please come quickly so we can eat!" He grabbed her arm and practically dragged her out of the room and downstairs to the dining room. It was still ornate, but it was even more so, since it was dark outside and the chandelier was lit above the table. There were three more chairs at the table, two more on the side that Gavroche sat on for lunch, and one on the other. Régis, Jackie, Gabe, Adélaïde, and her two kids were all in the same seats. There was a tall, dark haired, broad shouldered man beside Adélaïde, a dirty blonde, teenaged boy across from him, in between Théo and Pénélope, and a petite blonde next to Régis. Gav sat down next to the woman, which left Éponine to walk around to sit in between Gabe and the new man. As soon as Éponine sat down, the servers came in with the food and the room went quiet.

The food all looked delicious and fancy, like lunch. For dinner, there was seasoned chicken breasts, asparagus, and buttered wheat bread. She noticed the woman next to Gavroche didn't have chicken, and instead had a bowl of yellow rice.

"Éponine, this is my husband, Gilbert, and our adopted son, Zacharie. Zach, Gil', this is 'El's girlfriend, Éponine Jondrette." Adélaïde introduced.

"And this is-" Régis started, looking at the blonde woman.

"I can introduce myself, Daddy. I'm a big girl." She said to Régis. "I am Adrienne Enjolras, 'El's older sister. I'm so happy to finally meet you, Éponine. He's told me so much about you. I am glad you agreed to come for Thanksgiving."

"Now that introductions are done, I think the children would really like to eat." Jackie said, nodding at Gavroche. He looked sheepish. "Go ahead, dig in everyone." She said. They all did. Éponine's taste buds immediately reacted to the wonderful chicken. They ate in silence for the most part.

"Did you finish your project this afternoon, Gilbert?" Gabe asked.

"Yes, I think we did. Do you want to tell them about it, Zach?" He said, looking to the boy. The boy, in turn, just shrugged and shoved another forkful of chicken in his mouth. Gilbert, Adélaïde, and Jackie all looked at the boy, disappointed at his lack of interest.

"Leave him alone. Just let the boy eat his food." Régis said. Éponine glanced at Gabe, noticing he hit a sore spot for the family.

"So, Adrienne, what do you do? Gabe mentioned something about an internship?" Éponine offered up conversation to get out of the sticky situation.

"Yeah! I'm in my second year of internship with Scholastic Books. I basically just read manuscripts and make notes for the editors to eventually look over to choose which authors they are going to publish. Don't get me wrong," Éponine kind of zoned out at this point. Adrienne seemed like a bubbly, outgoing person who could talk about the weather for three hours and make it interesting. Her babbling seemed to diffuse a lot of the tension, but she watched as Adélaïde and her mother had a discussion with their eyes. Régis was completely engrossed with his younger daughter, and everyone else was politely listening while eating. Except Théo, who was throwing cut up pieces of chicken all around his plate. At least Gavroche was old enough not to play with his food.

Peaceful conversation was made for the rest of the meal, and when everyones plates were clear, following a very rich chocolate cake that the girls brought out, everyone went into a different living room area. This room had more seating areas. There was a comfortable sectional, that Régis, Jackie, Adélaïde, Gilbert, and Gabe were seated on, a La-Z Boy, that Zach claimed, and another chair, that Éponine claimed, not wanting to sit on the floor again. Gabe made a fake pouty face at her, and motioned to his lap. She just rolled her eyes at him. Pénélope and Théo got some toys out, and were playing quietly on the floor. Gavroche sat on the floor between the playing kids and the chair Zach was sitting in, sulking and playing on his phone with earbuds in.

Adrienne plopped herself in the middle of the floor. They all discussed how school/work/retirement/various projects were going. The whole time, Jackie and Régis were cuddled up together, but not disgustingly so. Éponine wasn't addressed very much until later into the night.

"So, how long have you two been together, Éponine?" Adrienne asked.

"About a month and a half?" She asked Gabe for confirmation. He raised his eyebrows at her, and smirked. She knew they were both remembering that day that she was sick and he rescued her.

"Oh, you are so cute! I'm so happy for you, 'El. Did you know he hasn't dated anyone since his sophomore year of high school?" Adrienne asked.

"I remember! What was her name, again? Alyssa? She was a cutie, but definitely not 'El's type." Adélaïde piped up.

"What do you mean? I thought everyone was Gabe's type." Éponine said. It was her turn to smirk, now. Gabe was blushing bright red.

"Let's just say, her looks were the only thing she had going for her. That, and she was on her way to becoming cheerleading captain." Gabe said.

"A flexible one, huh?" Gilbert joked. Adélaïde nudged him, but was laughing.

"Oh, come on guys! She wasn't that bad. She was just a little too much woman for our little Gabriel." Jackie put in.

"She was a junior, pretty girl who wanted to take the star of the football team to prom! So I said yes, not knowing what would come of it. A week after she declared we were going together, she also declared we were dating. It lasted until the end of the school year, when I found her making out with the senior class president." Gabe admitted.

"You dated someone just because she demanded you date her?" She asked. He nodded, but Gilbert interrupted.

"I married someone because she demanded it!" They all laughed.

"So, will you tell us more about you?" Adrienne asked Éponine. "You too, Gavroche. You've obviously both made an impression on 'El if he wanted to bring you home."

"There's not much to tell about me, to be honest. I'm studying to be an elementary teacher. My parents are out of my life, but my sister is a year younger than me and in the same major. She just got engaged." Éponine said.

"To Antoine." Gabe added.

"Courf! I love that kid! Always had the biggest crush on me." Adrienne said. "Speaking of your friends, how are they all? I should come up to the university sometime."

"They are all good." He updated his family on some of his friends that she didn't recognize. "As Ép said, Antoine is engaged to Azelma." He exchanged a glance, wondering if he should add why. She just shrugged. "They are expecting a child in June." Adélaïde and Jackie gasped, but Adrienne was still attentively listening.

"That's so exciting!" She exclaimed. "Éponine, don't mind them and their old-fashioned views. Mom is still in denial about Henri being gay."

"Henri?" Éponine asked.

"Grantaire. Grantaire and Jehan are doing wonderfully. They are also doing the project and have an adorable little girl. She's a six-year old twin. Marius and his girlfriend have the other." Gabe clarified and continued.

"And how is Maurice doing? Is he still on that death sentence of an academic track?" Jackie asked.

Éponine had to think who she was talking about, and then she remembered. Combeferre, Gabe's best friend. He was the one who drove them back to the apartment after she passed out the day the started dating.

"Yes. He's still medicolegal. We haven't been spending as much time together, recently. Actually, I'm not sure he's even been to the apartment." Gabe said, looking to Éponine.

"He dropped us off that one time I got sick." She said.

"So, he's been in the doorway. We should really have him over for dinner sometime." Gabe said, once again looking to Éponine, and she nodded.

Adrienne then looked to Gavroche. "And what about you, Gavroche. What's your story?" She asked.

"I'm just an eight year old kid. My parents left me on the street when I was three. I've been at Miss Fantine's orphanage ever since. Now I'm living with Éponine and Gabe, which is really cool and fun. I like to play soccer and love superheroes." He told them all, in a good speaking voice. He looked at his sister for confirmation, and she nodded. She was always impressed by his maturity.

"And you are going to say absolutely nothing about Rachelle?" Gabe prompted.

Gav blushed. "Rachelle is my best friend. She is staying with Marius and Miss Cosette. She got to the orphanage a couple months after I did, and we've been best friends ever since. We also look out for the twins that Gabe mentioned earlier, Hillaire and Julien."

"Awww, you're such a cutie." Adrienne gushed. Adélaïde rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"I also recently found my biological family. My parents aren't much, but my sisters are the best." Gav said.

Éponine looked from the boy to her boyfriend with wide eyes. "Oh? Then why aren't you with them for this holiday?" Adélaïde asked.

"'Laide! It sounds like you don't want him here!" Adrienne squealed.

"I was just asking!" Adélaïde defended. Realizing his mistake, Gavroche looked at Éponine and Gabe apologetically. Gabe nodded at both of them.

"I am. Éponine is my sister, and Azelma, too, but she's with Courf." Gavroche said. The room went silent. The only noises were coming from Zach's earbuds. Even the younger kids had become quiet.

"I'm going to take the kids home, now." Gilbert said, standing. Zach looked up, and recognizing the cue, stood up to leave as well. The both males walked over and kissed Jackie on the cheek and shook Regis' hand. Then they did the same for Adrienne, who had jumped up for them, and Gabriel. Both avoided Éponine. Gilbert lifted Théo in his arms, and Zach took Pénélope's hand. Éponine noticed the older boy was fairly tender with his adopted siblings. Once they had left the room, attention went back to the secret that had just been revealed.

"Gabe, why didn't you tell us?" Régis asked.

"It wasn't my story to tell." He responded simply.

"I don't understand why it's a big deal…" Adrienne said, taking Gilbert's seat between her siblings.

"So you're parents are con-artists. Your sister is pregnant and engaged, to Antoine Courfeyrac, no less. Your brother has been in an orphanage all his life, and you just want to be an elementary school teacher with your life? Why do you think you deserve to be with my son?" Jackie said.

No one spoke. Éponine blanched. She was right. She was exactly right. There was no reason that she deserved anyone even half the man Gabe was. Her life was so messed up and he didn't deserve to have to deal with that. He spent the last month cooped up in his room working on the case to win custody over her brother, even though there was no guarantee they would win, or that Éponine was even capable of care for the boy.

"Because I said so." Gabe said.

"What? This has nothing to do with you." Jackie said.

"This has everything to do with me! It's my life. Mine and Éponine's. And Gavroche's. Not yours. I just expect you to support me. Éponine is an amazing woman. Gavroche is a great kid. Azelma is wonderful as well, and is marrying one of my best friends. Éponine is the hardest worker I have ever met. She is paying her whole way through college and works her butt off to keep her scholarships and make more money for the rest of her tuition and her sister's. Now she's trying to save even more money so that the judges will let her take custody of her little brother. She got herself and her sister out of her parents' house and has been the best possible partner I could have asked for to do this project with.

"Over the last few months, we've grown very close, and I can't imagine spending anymore of my life without her. No, Mom, don't have a heart attack. I'm not asking her to marry me, we have too many of those happening in our group. If you don't accept her, all of you, we can leave first thing tomorrow. I don't plan on giving either of these two wonderful people up anytime soon. But I do want to ask, Ép, Gav, will you come live with me after this semester is over?"

There were tears in her eyes, but looking at the excited look on Gav's face, she nodded at her boyfriend, who swiftly rose, came over to her, and swept her to her feet, kissing her soundly. She was full on crying now, but it was out of happiness. After Gabe put her back on her feet, he motioned for the boy to come over and join them. The older students both hugged the eight-year-old, before turning to look at the Enjolras'. Adrienne also had tears streaming down her face, but she was smiling and nodding.

"So?" He asked them.

"'El! That was so romantic!" Adrienne squealed.

"Thanks, 'Enne. How about you, Dad?" Gabe said, going on to the next most likely to agree with him.

"I don't know when you turned into such a sap, son, but if she makes you happy, she is a saint in my eyes." Régis said.

"Mom?"

She didn't respond for a moment. She and Adélaïde exchanged some glances before she looked back at the three. "I guess she is welcome in our house. But you must understand, it will take some getting used to." Jackie said and Éponine sighed out of relief.

"What about you, 'Laide?" Gabe asked. Éponine tightened her hand on his, and he squeezed back.

Adélaïde, in response, got up and left. Éponine's heart stopped. Adrienne got up to go after her sister, sparing a worried glance for the couple. Éponine curled into Gabe as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry, Éponine. Why don't you guys head upstairs to get ready for bed. It's getting late. We'll deal with Adélaïde. She'll come around, eventually." Régis said, getting up. Gabe helped Éponine and Gavroche up the stairs and let Éponine get ready for bed while he tucked the boy in.

"Will Eppy be okay?" The boy asked.

"Eventually. Your sister is so strong, and I meant everything I said downstairs. We will probably leave really soon after lunch tomorrow, unless Adélaïde apologizes. Sleep well, bud." Gabe said.

"Night." Gav responded. Gabe shut the lights off, shut the door, and then went knocked on his childhood bedroom door.

"Ép, can I come in?" He asked. There was no response, so he tried the door. It was unlocked, so he walked in, but couldn't see his girlfriend. The bathroom door was open, and he saw that the room was dark. Not finding Éponine, he went to look in the other room, where his parents thought she was sleeping. He knocked on the door, and although there was no response, he heard movement. He opened the door and his heart dropped.

Éponine was laying on the still-made bed, her head buried in the pillows, sobbing. He could see black makeup already running on the pillows. He ran over to the bed and wrapped his arms around the girl, burying his head in her hair. "Oh, Ép. Éponine. Everything will be alright. Shhh. Calm down, sweetheart. It's okay." He whispered to her.

"No, it's not. How can you even say that? Your mom was right. I don't deserve you. She knows it, Adélaïde knows it. I know it. You probably do, too." She said, still crying.

"Éponine, that's not true. You didn't know me before. I was so boring and antisocial. I only had the Amis, and even they all didn't like me. They just respected me as a leader. Then, Cosette introduced us, and I had a reason to be social and to leave my books. I had a reason to actually live. It was you. It was you and Gavroche. I really can't imagine my life without the two of you. That's why we have to win this court case. That's why I want to get a house for the three of us. That's why I'm thinking about the future, and not just my career and education.

"I'm thinking about all of the weddings we will be attending in the near future, together. I'm thinking of how long I have to wait into our relationship before I can propose to you. I'm saving my money, too, so that we can pay for our wedding if my parents won't help. I'm thinking about where we could build a house together to raise a family in, past Gavroche. I've been thinking about all of this. I never thought I would have any thoughts about this. I thought I would just live out my life in a small, one bedroom apartment. In forty years, I would just be an old, cranky attorney, who only concerned himself with his job." He told her, wiping her tears away.

"Éponine, I love you so much. No one can change that, ever." He said, sincerely.

"I love you, too." She relented. While there were still tears running down her face, she kissed him. They kissed, innocently, for a while before Gabe broke away.

"Come to bed with me, please." He pleaded. She nodded and tried to stand up, but he wouldn't let her. He placed a hand on her back, and the other swooped her knees out from under her.

"Gabe!" She shrieked.

"I've got you. You've had a hard night." He told her. She tucked herself into him. Once they got to his room, he threw her a t-shirt and pair of shorts to change into, and went to the bathroom to change into his pajama pants. When he came back in, Éponine was tucked into the bed, asleep. He crawled in next to her and pulled her close.

"Good night, Ép." He said, kissing her forehead, and then falling asleep himself.

**A/N: In rereading this, I realized that the 'climax' of this chapter, and probably the most dramatic part of this story actually happens really quickly and even I wasn't sure what happened... Regardless, I hope you liked this chapter. I got a couple responses to my last AN, but I still would like more votes. Here's a reminder:**

**1\. Suggestions regarding the court case.**

**2\. The Courfeyrac baby.**

**3\. Sequel. I have some ideas formed, but if there's anything you want to see in a sequel, any resolutions or problems, let me know!**

**I have a lot of stories in progress, but I don't publish until I'm sure I have an ending, or will be able to finish. If you want any say in what I post next, check out my profile and let me know what sounds good to you. I also take commissions, but I will make no guarantees that they will be finished. I will try my hardest, however. Read and review for me, please! Have a wonderful week, and I'll see you with Chapter 20? Next week!**


	20. Chapter 20: Thanksgiving Day

The next morning, Éponine was woken by a soft knocking on her door. She quickly and gently untangled herself from her boyfriend to answer it.

"Gav, what's up?" She asked upon seeing her little brother.

"Happy Thanksgiving! I didn't know if you were awake or not." He said.

"Happy Thanksgiving to you. I'm up now." Éponine said, rolling her eyes.

"Good, let's go eat breakfast. I'm starving." The boy said, and took off down the hall. Éponine followed him, much slower. They went into the kitchen, and a girl quickly go to work on their breakfast. She made them scrambled eggs, bacon, and french toast. Gavroche scarfed down his food, anxious to do something else with his day. Éponine ate slowly and chatted with the girl. Her name was Clarabella. She was only eighteen, but she had run away from home when she was sixteen. She had found this job and readily took it.

Not too much later, Éponine felt arms wrap around her. "Good morning, Gabe. Happy Thanksgiving." She said, noticing Clarabella's blush. The girl turned away from them.

"Mmm, mornin'. Happy Thanksgiving." Her boyfriend responded, nuzzling his face into her neck. "It got cold without you." He said.

"Sorry, but Gav wanted to eat. Do you want some breakfast? Clarabella will gladly make you some." Gabe gave her a quizzical look before realizing who she was talking about.

"Oh, the serving girl. Yes, please." He said, sitting down next to his girlfriend. Éponine rolled her eyes at the title he gave the girl.

"I'm going to go see what Gavroche got up to. Are we leaving today?" She asked, standing.

"That depends. If Adélaïde is willing to apologize and get over herself, we can stay another night. If not, we're leaving after lunch." He said, sipping the coffee Clarabella placed in front of him, gaining more and more consciousness. Éponine nodded sadly and started her search for her brother. She walked into the sitting room they had met in when they arrived, but he wasn't there. Jackie was, however.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Éponine." The older woman said.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Jackie." Éponine said, making to leave the room.

"Éponine, wait a moment." She said, setting down her coffee and the book she was reading. Éponine turned back to the older woman. "I see you didn't sleep in your own room last night." Éponine blushed and nodded. "Well, I supposed if he is as serious about you as he seems, that doesn't surprise me." She said, nodding at Éponine's attire, which was still Gabe's t-shirt and shorts.

"Is that all?" The girl asked, wanting out of the uncomfortable situation and just to find her brother.

"No. Please sit." She said, motioning at the chair. Éponine awkwardly did as asked. "I wanted to apologize about my behaviour last night. You have to understand, Gabriel has never brought a girl home with him. Adélaïde has only ever brought Gilbert. Adrienne, well, Adrienne is a different story. But when he said he was bringing you and Gavroche, I was terrified. Especially after a declaration like he made last night, it means I'm losing my little boy. He doesn't need me anymore, now that he has you. Adélaïde feels much the same way. He's her little brother. He was always her little baby. But now, in our eyes, he's no longer content with us. He needs his own family, and found that in you and your brother." She finished, looking down at her perfectly manicured, motherly hands.

"That's not how he sees it at all. We knew it was going to be difficult for you to accept me. We discussed it thoroughly before coming. He told me that he loves me enough to let you go if you can't accept me, but that he really did want your approval. Yours more than anyone elses. He does love you and he still does need you. And if you don't mind me saying, I need you. You raised a wonderful son who has no fear and so much compassion he doesn't even know what to do with it. Meanwhile, I was raised so terribly. I'm always afraid. I'm too sassy, too harsh, too cold, and I always care too much about what everyone else is thinking.

"Just being here for a day is so much more like home than where I grew up. Of course, the apartment I share with Gav and Gabe is my home, but this is a place I can actually imagine someone growing up in. I don't agree with everything you do, and you don't have to agree with everything I do, but that's what in-laws are for, right?" She asked.

"I supposed you're right. Thank you, Éponine. You didn't have to tell me any of that, but you are such an amazing, loving person, and you did. You will make for a great teacher, someday. And you are always welcome here. Even if Adélaïde doesn't think so. Now, were you looking for something?" She asked.

"Yes, I was looking for my brother, have you seen him?" She asked.

"I think I might have seen him and Régis going into the living room to watch the Parade." She said. "I think my husband enjoys having another little boy in the house. Théo is too young to play much and Zacharie, well, you saw what he was like last night." Jackie said.

"If you don't mind me asking, what did happen last night?" Éponine said Jackie tensed up, but responded.

"Zacharie's parents, as you have heard, died in a car crash. It was Regis' brother and his wife. Adélaïde and Gilbert had gotten married a few years previously, and when the news came and the will was read, Regis' brother had us listed to care for Zacharie. We were old, by then, and Gabriel had already moved out. We didn't think we would be suitable parents when Adélaïde and Gilbert were there, ready to have kids.

"They agreed and Zacharie moved in with them. He's been there ever since, and hasn't been too much of a problem. He loves Pénélope and Théo, but there's been a change in him. He's started talking less and not wanting anything to do with this family. Gabriel was much the same way at his age, but Zacharie seems much worse. No one knows what's wrong. Gilbert, normally being his go-to confidant, has hardly been able to get him to speak." Jackie said, exasperatedly.

Éponine thought about it for a moment. "If we do stay past lunch, which Gabe still is set on leaving if Adélaïde doesn't apologize, do you think I could try to talk to him? I mean, we aren't from the same background, by any means, but I do know how it feels to not have parents, or at least not good ones. And there's no consequence talking to me. After tomorrow, I may never see him again." She said.

"It's worth a shot. The worst that could happen is he doesn't talk to you, which would actually just be normal." Jackie said.

"Okay. Well, then. I'm going to try and find my brother now. And possibly some appropriate attire." Éponine said, standing.

"It was nice talking to you, Éponine. I hope you get to stay for dinner."

"I do too." Éponine said, leaving the room.

* * *

She did find Gavroche, eventually. He was watching the parade with Régis and Gabe. "I was wondering where you wandered off to." Her boyfriend said, pulling her into his lap as she passed.

"I was talking to your mom." She responded, nonchalantly.

"Oh, no. What happened?" He asked, giving her his full attention.

"Don't think so lowly of your mother." His dad said from another chair.

"Nothing happened. Nothing bad, at least. We had a nice chat. Are you sure that Adélaïde's opinion matters all that much? I wouldn't mind staying for supper." She told Gabe.

"No. Adélaïde has to apologize. Otherwise, we're leaving. I will not stand for her not accepting you."

"But, Gabe-"

"No. Éponine. It's more than just you. It's the whole society I've grown up in. Everyone cares too much about where you came from. They don't care where you are striving to get to. They think if you didn't grow up like they did, you don't deserve anything. And if you try to get out of the scenario you were born in, they won't let you. You have to change everything about you. You had to change your name, for goodness sakes! And for what? Just to get out of your parents' terrible shadow they pushed you under?"

Éponine just stared at him. "You're right, Gabriel." Régis said.

"What?" The blonde haired man said, shocked, looking back at his dad.

"You're right. You're exactly right, but it's going to take a lot more than just telling us your little speech." Régis told his son. "Adélaïde is a good place to start, but changing a whole society? That's going to take a lot more."

"I know. But if I can make a change in just our family, that's a start." Gabe said. Éponine laid her head on his chest. He was still cradling her in his lap.

"Okay. If you want to stand by your statement, I'm okay with that. But if you change your mind, know that I'm okay with staying." She said quietly. "I'm also going to try and talk to Zacharie. It seems like he's going through some things, and I'm a third, impartial party." She announced.

"That's very noble of you, Éponine." Régis said.

"I'm so happy you're here, no matter what anyone else thinks." Gabe told her, kissing her forehead. And they turned their attention back to the parade, Éponine falling back asleep in her boyfriend's arms.

"Gramma! Grampa!" A little voice screeched from the foyer.

"They're here. Is Adrienne up yet?" Régis asked.

"I'll get her!" Gavroche said, jumping up.

"I think he has a crush on your sister." Éponine told her boyfriend, cuddling into him more.

"I think so too, but she will never replace Rachelle." He told her.

"True. I wonder how all of our friends are doing. I hope Azelma is doing ok-"

"Ép, stop worrying. Everyone is fine. They would let us know if they weren't. My phone is right here, and I don't have a single te-Shit!" He said, picking up his phone.

"WHAT!" Éponine yelled, jumping up.

"Éponine, calm down, I bet it's nothing…"

"Gabriel Enjolras, let me see your phone." She said in a stern voice, even the blonde haired chief couldn't say no to. He handed over the phone. Éponine gasped, and swiped the top phone call, which happened to Jehan, and holding it up to her ear impatiently. His whole lock screen was full of phone calls and texts from their friends.

"Éponine, thank God. We've been trying to call you and Enjolras for an hour! I was just trying to find the Enjolras Estate's number." He said, answering the phone.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Please don't freak out. Will you give the phone to Enjolras? Just for a second. Then I'll tell you."

"Jeh-"

"'Ponine."

"Fine, here he is." She said, handing her boyfriend his phone.

"Hey, Jehan. What's up?" He asked. He listened for a moment, and paled a little bit. But then he nodded.

"Okay. We'll be there as soon as we can. Tell her we're on our way. I'm giving the phone back to Éponine now." He handed her the phone.

"Tell me." She demanded. Gabe glared at her, but then took her hand that wasn't holding his cell phone, and led her up the stairs.

"About an hour ago, I got a call from Courf. He said that Azelma was having contractions. They took her to the hospital closest to his house. We are on our way there now. Julien and Hillaire are with us. Marius, Cosette, and Rachelle are behind us. Enjolras knows how to get there. She should be okay, but they don't know if the baby will make it."

**A/N: And that, my dear friends, is the best cliffy I've ever written. Maybe the only successful one... This was not a very well written chapter. I feel like I get to a certain point in all of my stories and then they kind of fall of a cliff, quality-wise. Oh, well. This one is almost finished. I'm still asking for all of the things I've asked for in all of my other chapters. Reviews, responses to all my questions, fan-art covers, the lot. I also want to give a shout out to a couple of people. First of all, Smithy, who reviews all of my chapters, but still doesn't have an account so I can't let them know that I love them and they are fantastical. Second, Fangirl crazi407, who also reviewed a really great review that almost made me cry from happiness with how nice and involved it was. They have PMs turned off for whatever reason? So I could say how much I love them. And third, to all of the other guests who have posted reviews without names and all of my other readers. I love you all and can't believe approximately 100 different people read each chapter of my story. I hope that number continues to go up, not only for this story, but all of my past and future stories. Thank you so much! Question for this week: What's your favorite book/book series? I'm specifically looking for young adult dystopian books, like Hunger Games, Mortal Instruments, the sort. See you next week!**


	21. Chapter 21: Azelma Part 2

"NO!" Éponine cried as Gabe led her into their room. He sat her down on the bed while he packed their things. He was actually just throwing all of their belongings into the duffle bags they brought.

A worried looking Gavroche appeared in the doorway, followed closely by a tired, but concerned looking Adrienne, Régis, Jackie, and the Leclairs. "What happened?" The boy said, running up to his sister.

"Gav, you need to go pack your things. We're leaving now." Gabe said.

"What? Why? It's Thanksgiving! Before lunch! Adélaïde, apologize to your brother. He can't leave now. We just got him back!" Jackie cried desperately. Gavroche slipped past Gabe's family, with a hesitant glance over his shoulder at his sister and her boyfriend. He didn't want to leave, yet, but he trusted Gabe almost as much as he trusted Éponine, and knew that it had to be really important. Gabe nodded at him, so the boy proceeded to his room.

Once he was out of earshot, Gabe spoke again. Éponine was still on the phone, but not speaking. "Azelma, Éponine's sister, is going into labor. They were visiting Antoine's family, so they aren't too far away. It should only take us half an hour to get there, but we need to get going. Jehan and Grantaire got the call an hour ago and are on their way from school. So this business with Adélaïde will have to be resolved later. We really have to go. Now." He said, sharply, turning into the leader she had only witnessed in him a few times, but had heard so many stories about.

"Oh, Éponine. I'm so sorry. Gabriel, all of your friends can come stay here, if you have to stay over night. The Courfeyrac's don't have as much room at their house. You kids be safe on your drive over there." Jackie offered.

"I'll come with you. Someone is going to have to watch all of these kids while you students worry about Azelma." Adrienne said.

"You don't nee-" Gabe started.

"I'd like that very much, Adrienne." Éponine said. No one had noticed she had ended the phone call, and was, quite frankly, calmer than Gabe was. "We need to go, though." She said, standing and placing her arm on her boyfriend's arm. He nodded and picked up their bags.

Once everyone was in the foyer, Adrienne spoke up again. "I'll drive myself, since we don't know if you are going to be coming back or not. I don't want to be a burden, just help." Éponine and Gabe nodded.

"Gav, why don't you go with her." Éponine suggested. The boy's eyes brightened.

"Really?" He asked, excitedly.

"Sure, bud. Come on, we'll have a rockin' time." The blonde girl said, taking his backpack from him and leading him to her car.

"Are you ready?" Gabe asked his girlfriend.

"Yeah. Thank you so much for having us. I feel terrible about running out bu-" She said.

"It's no problem. You need to be there for your sister. We understand. Just, come back soon, and don't be a stranger." Jackie said, coming up to hug her.

Régis followed. He whispered to her, "Take care of my boy for me." She nodded.

The Leclairs had left the room, so Gabe hugged his parents and then they got in his car.

Once they got onto the highway, Éponine finally broke down. "Oh, Ép." He said, putting his right hand on her knee and rubbing gently. "What can I do?"

"Nothing!" She sobbed. "Why did this have to happen? Why to Azelma? Why today?" Gabe stayed quiet. Éponine just cried, while he kept his eyes on the road. Once they got into town, Éponine stopped crying and Gabe discovered how she had always seemed so strong. She was very good at controlling her emotions. Not only that, but she had chosen that he was worthy of seeing her upset and breaking down.

She pulled down the visor mirror and tried to fix her face up so that no one could tell. After deeming her face acceptable to see the public, she took her boyfriend's hand off her knee and laced her fingers with his. He squeezed it lightly so that she would know he was there to tether her to the ground. They pulled into the hospital lot and found a close parking spot. They hopped out of the car, and laced hands again as they walked into the waiting room.

"Azelma Jondrette? She went into labor a couple of hours ago." Éponine asked at the front desk.

"Yes. You can wait in the waiting room on the third floor." The lady said, smiling. Gabe whipped out his phone and texted all their friends where they were going to be as they walked up the stairs.

Once arriving in the correct waiting room, Gabe said, "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Courfeyrac."

"Gabriel! And you must be Éponine. We heard all about you last night! And your little brother. Is he with you?" Mrs. Courfeyrac said, getting up to hug both students. Antoine's father shook both of their hands.

"He's on the way with Adrienne." Gabe explained.

"Can I see my sister?" Éponine asked.

"Oh, yes. She wanted you to be sent in right away. Room 367. Second door on the right." Mrs. Courfeyrac said.

Éponine quickly turned on her heel and went to find the room. She knocked and then walked into the room. Azelma was in a gown on the bed, laying back. Courfeyrac was sitting next to her, holding her hand. "Éponine!" Her sister exclaimed.

"Hey, 'Zel. How are you?" She asked.

"Well, I'm okay, all things considered." She said, sadly. Éponine sat on a chair on the opposite of the bed as Courfeyrac. "I'm sorry to drag you away from the Enjolras'." She said.

"It's okay. Everyone just wants you and the baby to be okay." Éponine said, taking her sister's hand.

"Where's Gav?" She asked.

"With Gabe's sister, Adrienne. They should be here by now. She decided to tag along to watch the kids." Éponine explained.

"Not in hopes that Combeferre will be here." Courfeyrac mumbled.

"What was that, Antoine?" Azelma asked. He looked a little sheepish.

"Adrienne has always had a thing for Combeferre. Ever since we were kids." The man explained as a nurse came in.

"How are you, Miss Jondrette?" She asked.

"I'm okay."

"No more contractions?" She asked.

"No." Azelma answered.

"That's a good sign. Sometimes expecting mothers just get contractions much earlier than the baby actually wants to come out. If that's the case, everything will be just fine."

"When will we know if that's the case?" Éponine asked.

"If the contractions stay away for twenty minutes, we can probably get the doc to clear you and send you back home. If they just slow down, then it could be longer, but we will wait for a twenty minute window free of contractions." She said. "I'm going to take a look, okay?" She asked Azelma, who nodded. Éponine just looked over at Courfeyrac, and then her sister, not wanting to watch the nurse.

Once the nurse had left, Éponine spoke. "So, it might just be a false alarm?"

"Yeah, but I called the hospital when the contractions started. The doctor kept me on for a while, and then told me I should just come in. How was the one day of your holiday?" The younger woman asked, changing the subject.

"It was… interesting." Éponine responded.

"Oh, no. Who was it?" Courf asked.

"Jackie started it, but it was mostly Adélaïde." Éponine said. Courf rolled his eyes.

"We should have better prepared you." He said.

"Does someone want to let the pregnant lady in on what's going on?" Azelma asked.

"The Enjolras family didn't welcome me as well as the Courfeyracs seem to have welcomed you." Éponine said. "Jackie, his mom, was leery at first, but she came around. We had a nice little chat this morning. Régis, Gabe's dad, seemed to like me well enough, and likes Gav. Adrienne, who is his closest older sister, is great. I think Gav has a crush on her. But then his oldest sister…" Éponine trailed off.

"Adélaïde is very set in her ways. She is very much the poster child for how Enjolras and I grew up. She wants to be just like her mother. She married rich and hopes for her siblings to do the same. I doubt Adrienne will ever get married, unless she somehow snags 'Ferre. Enjolras, however…" Courfeyrac said.

"When she found out where I came from, she wasn't very nice about it. Gabe had threatened that we would leave right after lunch if she didn't apologize and accept me, but then we had to leave anyways." Éponine explained the tension from the night before.

"I'm so sorry, Éponine. I wish you could have stayed." Azelma said.

"It's more important that I'm here for you. You haven't had a contraction since I got here. How are you feeling?" Éponine asked, changing the topic back to the matter at hand.

"I'm feeling much better. Has it been twenty minutes? I'd really like to put real clothes back on." She said. Courf looked at his watch.

"It's been about fifteen since the nurse was in. Do you want one of us to get the doctor?" He asked his fiancée.

"Yes, will you?" She asked. Courfeyrac nodded and started to stand.

"No, I will. You stay here with 'Zel. I'll be back in just a few." Éponine said, getting up and leaving the room before either of the other students could protest.

She wandered around for a while, trying to find a doctor, but ended up in the waiting room where the rest of their friends were arriving. Gabe was introducing everyone to his sister and the Courfeyracs.

"Is 'Zelma okay?" Gavroche asked, seeing his eldest sister in the doorway. Everyone else turned their attention to her.

"Yes. Everyone is fine, currently." She relayed the information she had learned in the room. "Now, has anyone seen a doctor? I'm supposed to find them…" She trailed off.

"Oh, I'll just go get her. Her office is right across from the room." Mrs. Courfeyrac said.

"Thanks." Éponine said, taking a seat on one of the couches, pulling her boyfriend down next to her. He wrapped an arm around her, and she put her head down on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head and ran his fingers through her hair.

"She'll be fine, Ép. Both Azelma and the baby will be perfectly fine." He whispered.

"I know. But I'm just tired." Éponine said.

"We'll go home after this. When Azelma gets released in a few minutes, we can all pack up and go home. You can relax for the rest of the weekend."

"That sounds wonderful."

After about half an hour, Azelma and Courfeyrac came into the waiting room. "'Zel!" Julien rushed over to his stand in parents. Gavroche was right behind him. The boys hugged her legs.

"Everything is great. Doc said we can all go home." Courf said. "Mom, Dad. Azelma and I agreed that it would be best if we got back to our apartment." The Courfeyrac's nodded, albeit sadly.

"I really enjoyed meeting both of you, and I apologize greatly for the inconvenience-" Azelma started sincerely, patting Julien's head.

"No. Don't talk like that. It's not like you can control that little bugger. I have a feeling your little one has a mind of their own, not unlike Antoine." Mrs. Courfeyrac said. Azelma just smiled, looking at her fiancé.

"I'm going to sneak out, too." Adrienne said, appearing next to Éponine and Gabe.

"You better not leave without saying goodbye to your greatest admirer." Éponine said, nodding towards her little brother. The blonde girl nodded before walking over to the boy, who was still standing near his older sister.

Éponine watched Gavroche introduce their sister to Adrienne. Azelma smiled at the girl and Courf gave her a hug before going back to conversing with his parents. Adrienne then spoke to Gavroche before leaning down to hug him. Then she waved at Éponine and her brother before pulling her keys out of her purse and taking off down the hallway.

Soon after Adrienne left, all of the students made their way out of the hospital and got into their respective cars. Azelma and Courf had to go back to his parents' house to get their things. R, Jehan, Julien, and Hillaire, got into their car and took off, as did Éponine, Gabe, and Gavroche. Éponine offered to drive, but her boyfriend just waved her off.

**A/N: Yeah, everyone's alright. I'm really terrible at actually sustaining plot. I apologize. This could have been so much more suspenseful. Oh, well. What's done is done. There's a little one line reference to a different musical in here. Let me know if you can find it! I hope everyone is doing wonderfully and is much more full of energy and generally happier than I am right now. I'm exhausted and kind of want to kill every person under the age of twelve I come into contact with. I wish they could all be as amazing as Gavroche... **

**I'm asking for all the same things as weeks previously. I'm also having a little writing identity crisis, so if you could check out my profile and let me know what story or stories you want to see next, it might give me some inspiration to write enough to start posting a new story immediately after this one is finished. K, thanks. This was long. See you next week!**


	22. Chapter 22: Court Case Part 1

After the holiday week, all of the students spent most of their time studying for their finals. They also stepped up their care for their younger students, realizing that they had less than a month left with them. In the case of apartment 256, when they weren't studying or with their friends, they were preparing and worrying about a court case.

Éponine still had many doubts. She tried not to voice them when Gavroche was in earshot, so as not to upset him again, but many nights she voiced her fears to Gabe.

"We aren't going to win. Then Gavroche is just going to go back and hate me for the rest of our lives. Why would a court let me take in a little boy? That just sounds like a terrible idea. 'Let's stick the boy with his unstable older sister who doesn't make enough money and is still going through college to get a degree in the money-making profession of teaching. It will turn out perfectly.' Who are we kidding?" She asked, her head on his chest and his arm around her.

"Éponine, we've been over this. You do make enough money. Especially if…" He didn't finish his thought.

"If what?" She asked, shifting so that she was looking at him.

"If you let me help you out." She opened her mouth to protest, but he held up his hand. "Before you interrupt, hear me out. If you let me pay for our house next year, rent and utilities, then you can continue to save. You have enough scholarships and money in savings to finish your education. You even have enough to live for a few years by yourself, or even conservatively with Gavroche. But if you let me help you, you will have enough for both of you to live comfortably and not have to pinch for money. You could even start a college fund for him. I still have plenty of savings from my parents, and nothing else to spend it on. Let me spend it on you." He said.

"Gabe-" She started, but she found she didn't have much to say.

"Now you're thinking about it. Ép, I love you. I know we've only been dating for a couple of months, but you are it for me. Eventually, I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you. You, me, Gavroche, and any kids you want to have. There's no reason for you not to let me help. It's not charity. It's the beginning of living together and sharing our lives. It's help for Gavroche. If it was just the two of us, I would be completely open to splitting rent and anything else. But there's another factor that you have to think about once we gain custody."

"You always say we. We gain custody. We will take care of Gavroche. We will raise a family." She commented.

"Is that a problem? I just see it as a-" He was cut off by her lips on his.

"I love it. I love you. Could this help also be a secret weapon in winning the court case, if needed?" She asked. He shrugged.

"It could be. If they worry about money, we can bring up your filthy rich, white, conservatively-raised boyfriend who's willing to shower you in funds if we get to keep your brother."

"Mmm." She said, kissing him again. "And what if they ask about a breakup claus?" She asks.

"Then I'll get down on one knee and propose to you right then and there so they realize I will never leave you. Not as long as you need me." He said, kissing her.

"Please don't. I'm not one of those girls who planned their whole wedding, including where her future fiancé was going to propose, but I don't want it to be in a courthouse while getting custody of her brother. I'd probably turn you down, and then we'd lose." She said.

"Okay, enough courtroom chat. Let's go to bed. We only have three days left, and we both have class tomorrow morning." Gabe said, tucking her back into his side.

"I love you, Gabe." She whispered as they were falling asleep.

"I love you, too, Ép." He said, kissing her forehead.

* * *

"Gav! You need to get up!" Éponine yelled from the kitchen where she was making breakfast for the apartment. Gabe was already up, sitting at the table checking the news on his phone. Both of the older students were in their pajamas. Neither had bothered to get ready yet, since neither were going to classes that day.

"I don't see why if you aren't going to classes, I have to go to school." The boy protested, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and sitting down at the table. Gabe poured him a glass of orange juice before going back to his phone and coffee.

"Because Gabe and I have a little bit more preparing to do. You don't have anything to prepare. You just have to speak the truth. If you decide the truth is that you don't want to live with us, then you have to say that." Éponine explained.

"You just want to kiss each other while I'm not here." Gavroche said grumpily as Éponine came over to put the french toast and bacon she had made on his plate. But then she turned and just put it on her and Gabe's plates. Then she set down the pan on the stove before climbing onto her boyfriend's lap and kissing him soundly. "I'm still here!" The boy shouted. "I've been blinded! Can I have breakfast now?"

"Not with that attitude." Éponine said, staying where she was.

"Please? I'll stop complaining about going to school, I promise." The boy pleaded, even pulling out the bambi eyes.

Éponine sighed dramatically. "I guess so." She finally got up and put breakfast on her brother's plate. Gabe, undeterred by his girlfriend's antics, never even looked up from his phone.

"Gabe, are you going to eat your breakfast, or did I make it just to go to waste?" She asked. He took a bite of bacon without looking up. She looked at her brother, and sighed again. They ate in relative silence. Gavroche finished getting ready for school, and then went over to Cosette's, since he was just going to walk to school with them.

Once the boy was out of the apartment, Éponine turned on her boyfriend. "Okay, what's the deal? Why are you not speaking or acknowledging me?"

"I'm just getting in the zone. Getting caught up on news and emails and such." He responded.

"Well, you're freaking me out, and this is not the best day to do that, if you didn't notice." She said.

"What do you want me to do? I didn't think we had that much we needed to discuss." He replied.

"We don't! But you could acknowledge my existence!" She said exasperatedly.

"Ép-" He started, but she slammed the door to her room. He turned his phone off and set it on the table before sighed and walking over to her door. He was about to knock on the door, but then he heard the shower start.

He decided to sit back down and wait for her. He ate his breakfast and left his phone face down, for fear that Éponine would come back in to see him on it and just get mad all over again.

He sat at the table waiting for her, but she didn't come out. He was about to reach for his phone, or go finish getting ready himself when he heard a thump and then Éponine yell his name. He jumped out of his chair and raced over to her room. He opened the door slowly.

"Ép?" He asked. He didn't see her. "Éponine, where are you?" He asked, louder.

"In the bathroom. Please, come help me." She said, almost whimpering. He did as asked, and saw her on the floor just outside of the shower. He rushed over to her.

"Éponine, what happened?" He said, lifting her head onto his lap.

"I'm okay. I just hit my head. I blacked out while trying to get out of the shower." She told him. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her, but then noticed blood on the ground.

"Is your head bleeding?" He asked, looking for where she hit it. He found the bump, but it wasn't bleeding. "No… Éponine, why is there blood on the flo- Oh. Nevermind, I got it." He said, finally putting all of the information together: the show for Gav, they hardly ever did any PDA past pecks on the lips in front of the boy, getting irrationally upset with him for not talking, blacking out in the shower, having blood with no cut. The mood swings alone should have been enough.

"Do you know why you blacked out? Is that normal?" He asked. She had mentioned it before, that every once in a while it happened.

"No. I'll be fine. Let's just forget about it. Will you help me to my room to get dressed?" She asked.

"Absolutely. I'm sorry for being on my phone this morning." He said.

"It's okay. I was being irrational." He hovered around her while she was getting dressed, just to make sure she didn't collapse again.

"Do you need anything else?" He asked.

"Just a couple ibuprofen and my water bottle, please." She requested. He went and got those for her before proceeding to finish getting ready himself.

* * *

All of their friends were coming to the court case to support them. Courfeyrac and Combeferre came up to check on Gabe, who was standing off to himself in the lobby of the courthouse. "Mon ami, are you alright? Are you guys all ready?" Combeferre asked.

"Yes, 'Ferre. I just, I've now seen everything." When his friends quirked an eyebrow at him, he retold the story of the morning in the most objective, medical, hushed version he could, for fear Éponine would hear him. She was a little ways away, talking with Azelma and Cosette, Fantine, and Dr. Valjean. Gavroche and Marius were hovering close by with some of the other Amis. R and Jehan would be rushing in, as they both had important classes they couldn't miss right before the case.

When it was finally their turn, all of Les Amis were present and accounted for. They all walked into the courtroom and took their appropriate places; Gabe, Gav, and Éponine in front of the barrier, Fantine, Valjean, Azelma, Courfeyrac, and Combeferre in the first row behind them with the rest of their friends filing in behind them. Everyone was very polite and knew how to behave correctly, which Gabe was thankful for. He had been in too many courtrooms that the patrons didn't know how to behave. Gabe had already introduced them and their case and everything seemed to be going just fine. That is, until a straggly-looking, older couple burst into the room, causing quite the ruckus.

"What is the meaning of this disruption?" The judge presiding asked.

"We object, your honor." The man said.

"There hasn't been much said to be objected. Who are you?" The judge tried again.

"Mom? Dad?" Éponine said.

**A/N: I really liked the fluffiness in this chapter. I was just going to cut to the court case, but this idea got into my head somehow, and I really liked the moodswings and blackout stuff in the morning. Sorry I didn't post, I've been a little busy. I was going to get this up last night for the fourth, but my brother had a bajillion people over for a party. I had, like, 6. It was interesting to say the least. This story is so close to being over, and I would really appreciate suggestions for the sequel or any other stories you want to see me write. Please shoot me a review or PM with inspiring words to make me write again!**


	23. Chapter 23: Court Case Part 2

The courtroom exploded. Azelma was frozen in place. Gabe was gaping between his girlfriend and her alleged parents. Gavroche shrunk in his seat. Éponine was just glaring at Claude and Helena.

"Yes, my dear, Éponine. Thank you for the very thoughtful invitation." Helena sneered at her oldest daughter.

"What are you doing here?" Éponine sneered right back.

"We thought we should be present for the court case in which our eldest daughter was trying to beat us out for custody of our youngest child. Our long lost Gavroche. Oh, Claude, look at him. He's all grown up! Come here, Gav-"

"Absolutely not! You gave up your custody of him five years ago, when you left him on the street. You never deserved to raise this boy, nor anyone else. You didn't raise anyone. I raised myself, Azelma, and Gavroche, until you got rid of him. My new family is the best thing that ever happened to me, and you aren't going to ruin it like you've ruined everything else for me. I will not give you the chance to mess up Gavroche like you messed up me. I'm not winning custody over you. I'm gaining custody from the government. You need to leave now. After getting custody of my little brother, our first order of business will be getting restraining orders for the six of us from the two of you." Éponine said, glaring at her parents each in turn.

"The six of who? We only have three children." Claude said.

"I mean, Gavroche, Azelma, Azelma's fiancé, my boyfriend, Azelma's baby, and myself, along with any of your future grandchildren." If the Thenardiers were taken aback by anything Éponine said, they didn't show it.

"Of course, Azelma would get knocked up first, wouldn't she. And we don't even know the boy. She's always been a trainwreck." Helena said to her husband. Courfeyrac started to stand up and defend his fiancée, but R and Bahorel held him to his seat. The judge finally banged his gavel to gain control.

"Can we please get some semblance of order in this courtroom?" He said. "The two of you need to leave, or take a seat and shut your mouths so that this case can proceed. We have lots of work to do." He said, pointing to the Thenardiers. The took seats at the back of the room. "Thank you. Now, Mr. Enjolras, that seemed like enough of a case for me. Ms. Jondrette seems like a perfectly fine and loving guardian for her brother from that speech. There are a few more things for us to hash out, making sure everything is strictly legal, good, and healthy, for the boy. But according to me, if Mrs. Valjean and the boy don't object, Ms. Éponine Jondrette can become Gavroche Thenardier's legal guardian by the end of the week."

"I agree completely." Fantine said, smiling and nodding.

"Of course I want to live with Éponine!" Gavroche said.

Éponine's face broke out into a smile and tears leapt to her eyes. Gabe and Gavroche were also smiling. She pulled both of them into a group hug. "Thank you very much, your honor." She said.

The rest of their time spent at the courthouse was fairly boring. Gavroche went to sit with Azelma and Fantine, since he wasn't needed. They hashed out the monetary issues and the future housing situation of the trio. Luckily, they had done their homework and had already had all the numbers crunched. The Thenardiers didn't make another peep the whole time. By five o'clock, everyone was exhausted, but Éponine had the documents in front of her. She, Gavroche, and Fantine had to sign many times, but when they left the building, she was Gavroche's legal guardian.

On the steps of the courthouse, she pulled her boyfriend to her and kissed him. They stood with their foreheads together. "I love you so much. Thank you so much."

"I love you too. You're a natural in the courtroom. Are you sure you don't want to switch your major?" He asked. They heard a click of a camera. They turned in the direction of the sound and saw Azelma holding up her phone.

"You guys are too cute for me not to do it! You'll thank me someday. Now, Gavroche, get up there with your new mom." She said, laughing.

"Eww! She's not my mom! She's my sister!" He said, running up the stairs to stand with the couple.

"You'd be a lot cuter if I was your mom." Éponine said, ruffling his hair before posing and smiling. Azelma took a few more pictures before the Thenardiers came out of the doors behind them.

"Mom, Dad." Éponine said, glaring and pushing Gavroche behind her.

"Éponine, don't I even get to see the boy?" Claude said.

"Nope. You've had the last eight years to see him, and you didn't want him any of that time." She said. As her father moved forward, looking like he used to before he gave her a beating. She felt a tense Gabe step up behind her.

"So, this is your new boyfriend. He's cute, 'Ponine! And smart, too, if what we saw in there was anything to go by. He'll definitely get you a good sum." Helena said. "But I really want to meet Azelma's hubby. Where is he?" She said, ignoring Éponine's glare and looking down the stairs to where Courfeyrac was standing with Azelma. "Ooo! Azelma, you certainly could've done worse." The rest of her words were lost on Éponine as the older woman staggered down the courthouse steps.

Claude stepped towards the couple at the top of the stairs. He examined Gabe up and down. "You would have been better off with Montparnasse, bitch." He said. Gabe lunged at him. It took both Éponine and Gavroche to hold him back.

"Stay away from my family. You weren't worthy of them ever, and they are better off without you. Éponine doesn't need anyone to look out for her. She could easily get rid of you herself, but if you come within a mile of her ever again, I will personally beat the crap out of you." He said. Combeferre and R had finally gotten up the stairs to help pull Gabe back.

Éponine turned her back on her father. "He's not worth it. Will you go get the car so we can leave? I'm famished." She said to her restrained boyfriend. She kissed the corner of his mouth and then motioned for the boys to take him down the stairs. She turned back to her father. "Gabriel Enjolras is the best thing that ever happened to me. If you come after us, you better be ready to spend the rest of your life in prison, because that's exactly what will happen. I suggest you grab Mom and leave, now. I don't ever want to see you again, and you will never see Gavroche again or any of your grandchildren that will be born."

When Claude didn't move, she took her phone out. "Or I could just call the police now. By tomorrow I could have solved half of the the thefts and murders in this city from the past twenty years, if that's what you prefer." That got him moving. He stormed down the stairs, grabbed his wife, and they left, disappearing into the shadows of the early winter night.

Éponine finally turned to her brother. A huge grin spread on her face. "Two in one! We got rid of them forever, and I have you forever. Are you ready for that?" She asked, smirking.

He looked concerned for a moment, but then smiled his big, toothy, eight-year-old smile before launching himself into his big sister's arms. She picked him up and hugged him.

"Thank you, Eppy." He said.

"No, thank you, Gav. I know it was a little weird to see Mom and Dad, but now that's all over. Let's go find Gabe and the car." She said. They walked down the front steps of the courthouse hand in hand to join the rest of their friends. "Where do we want to celebrate?" Éponine asked.

"I think Gavroche should get to decide." Cosette said, smiling at the boy.

"Hmmmm, McDonalds!" He said. They all laughed.

* * *

They decided to go to Ruby Tuesday, as it was a little fancier, the adults could get alcohol, and they still had burgers for Gavroche. He also thought it was great that he could get strawberry lemonade and it looked like one of the alcoholic beverages Cosette and his older sisters got. It was great for everyone to be together to celebrate one more time before the end of the semester. It was a very carefree time, full of laughter and friendship.

That night, after getting home from the celebration and tucking Gavroche into his room, Éponine and Gabe were lying in his bed. "You were amazing today." She said.

"You were too. I really think that your parents coming in was one of the best things that could have happened." He told her. "That speech you made was flawless, raw, and from the heart."

"I just said what I knew. I wish it didn't have to spurred by them. I meant what I said about never wanting you to meet them. But the past is in the past. I really could never repay you for what you did for us today." She told him. He kissed her.

"You never have to. I did it because I love you. And I love Gavroche. I wanted to win just as much as you did." He told her.

"But normal people have to pay pretty hefty sums for an attorney, don't they?" She asked.

"Well, yes. But that's why you're dating me, right? Free legal advice?" He said, grinning and kissing her again.

"Gabe, really." She said, pulling away.

"If you really feel that terrible about using my services, I could think of some other ways you could repay me." He said, smirking at her.

She swatted at him. "Gabe!"

He shrugged and laughed. "It's just a suggestion. I'm not taking any of your money." He told her. She rolled her eyes before rolling on top of her boyfriend and kissing the night away.

**A/N: Sorry. Please don't murder me for leaving you on that cliffhanger for, what? Two weeks? Three? I don't even know the last time I updated. I've been crazed and really uninspired to do anything. Writing, music, basically anything besides playing Minecraft after a long day of work. But you really don't want to hear about my problems and excuses. I think I'm going to update the last chapter later this week? Is this really the end? Nooooo! I don't want it to end! Anyways, I need to get this one finished. I feel bad about not updating. I also have a new idea for the next story I'm writing, so we might make a two week hiatus until I start publishing that one. I really need your input. Anything that you have a problem with, or want something slightly different for my coming stories, now is your chance to tell me! For instance, someone mentioned they wanted longer chapters. I'm going to try my best for the next story to make each chapter 3000 instead of 2000 words. I wanted to make a reader survey, but I just don't think that's going to happen. Maybe for the last update.**

**I also have a bone to pick with you all. A lot of the stories I read, in the ANs, sound like they get threatened when the don't update and seem to have very passionate readers. I don't feel like I have that. Do you know why? Because I don't. I mean, I don't mind not getting threatened, but a little bit more expression on my readers' parts would be nice. I don't know. If you have ideas, let me know. I'd love to hear from each and every one of my readers, especially on the last chapter. So read and review! If you have read the whole thing and haven't reviewed, I would much appreciate your input and your review on either this chapter, or the last chapter. I personally only review the last chapter of any given story, so I completely understand. This is getting really long, so I'm going to go work on my next story now and I will talk to you in the next update! Read, Review, and love Les Mis! Ciao!**


	24. Chapter 24: Aftermath

Finals went well for everyone. Éponine and Enjolras found a cheap house for the three of them to share with Courf and Azelma for the next semester while each couple looked for a real house to live in. After finals week finished, all of Les Amis helped them move from their apartment into the house. Everyone also helped decorate the house. R donated paintings he had made, including an early Christmas present, a painted portrait version of Éponine, Enjolras, and Gavroche on the steps of the courthouse. Azelma and Courfeyrac, along with bringing their own belongings, took Gavroche out and bought a lofted bed with a desk and shelves under it. Cosette and Marius went thrift shopping and found a kitchen table and chairs, not in a set, but somehow still matching. Jehan gave them two assorted collections of dishware that he stole from the dining centers over the years.

So, their house wasn't fully furnished, but they only planned to be there for a semester. The last stop was on the day the other kids were being "turned in." There were many tears, but all the older students knew the orphanage kids wouldn't be abandoned. They would all stay in touch, and be visited often. Courfeyrac, unbeknownst to Azelma, had already made plans with Fantine that Julien would be present for the birth of the baby. Cosette was already at the orphanage quite a bit, so she and Rachelle would still see each other often. She promised that she would drag Marius with her more times than not. R and Jehan couldn't stay away from Hillaire for long periods of time, anyways, so everyone knew they would be back many times.

Since Gavroche was staying with them, they just had to finish cleaning out his things, and let him say bye to the rest of the kids. There weren't many things left in his shared room, but he said he had a secret place that he had to grab a few things out of. He didn't even have enough things left there to fill his backpack. Rachelle was no where in sight. He said goodbye to the three other boys who had shared his room, and then the rest of the kids. He hugged Julien and Hillaire, saying he'd see them after Christmas. He hugged Fantine and the other girl who helped out many times at the orphanage.

Finally, just as they were leaving, Rachelle came racing down the stairs. Gavroche's back was turned, so he didn't see her. She jumped on his back, just like the first time Éponine and Gabe had met her. Gavroche almost didn't catch her, but at the last second, he grabbed her legs. She tucked her face into the crook of his neck. He coaxed her off his back so that he could hug her properly. They stood together for a long time, both crying and holding each other. The other children and the older students could hear faint whispering coming from the pair, but otherwise the building was quiet.

When they pulled apart, Rachelle said, out loud, "I'm going to miss you so much, bonehead."

"I'll be back, dingbat. We still go to the same school." He said. "I love you."

Éponine's heart melted at that, and she took Gabe's hand. "I love you, too." She said. They hugged one more time, and he kissed her forehead before the trio left.

They took the backpack home and then loaded up Gabe's car. Once they got on the road, Éponine looked at her boyfriend. "Do you think round two will be better than the first?" She asked.

"Definitely. I spoke to both of my sisters already. Adélaïde relented before we even got back home, with only a little coaxing from Adrienne. They are all very excited to see you and Gav again, and 'Laide and Gil' both think it would be a good idea for you to talk to Zach."

"Good. I hope I can get him to open up a little more." She said. "It surprises me that Adélaïde let up so easily."

"I think it has less to do with you and more to do with politics. She doesn't want to be shunned from the inevitable wedding. Adélaïde loves weddings." He said, smirking at her.

"Oh, it's inevitable now. I could still get rid of you." She reminded him.

"But you won't."

* * *

"Come on, Azelma. You only get married once. Hopefully. You're not getting cold feet are you?" Éponine asked.

"No! I love Courf. It's just-"

"It's just what?" The maid of honor asked impatiently.

"I don't know. I wish that I had a dad to walk me down the aisle. I wish I didn't already have a kid, even though I love little Flor. I wish we were more traditional." The bride admitted.

"Azelma. Look at me." Éponine said, putting her hand on her sister's bare shoulders. "We are Jondrettes. We are strong and independent, but we can pass off the burden to those we love. We aren't traditional, no, but we have so many other things. You're beautiful, your baby is beautiful, your soon-to-be husband is beautiful. This ceremony is going to be beautiful, and then you will get a week to just be with your husband. I love you, and anyone here who doesn't love and respect you, doesn't belong to witness this show of love between you and Courf."

"Stop! You're going to make me cry! I'm ready now." The bride said. Éponine smiled and showed her to the gate where the processional would begin. Éponine cued the music, friends of Jehan, and then took her spot in the procession with Marius. She tried not to think about how, a couple years earlier, she would have been dying walking down an aisle of any sort arm and arm with Marius. She just had to look in front of her and see the mop of dirty blonde hair to remind her that she didn't want that life anymore.

As if he could sense her thinking about him, Gabe turned around to smile at her. He was jerked back to real life by Cosette pulling him along the aisle. Then it was her turn. As she entered the garden, she took in all their hard work. All of Les Amis had put in work to make the community garden on campus look beautiful for the wedding. The fences were lined with flowers and lacy, white decorations. Éponine looked up at the centerpiece where Courfeyrac was standing. He was shifting back and forth, anxious to see Azelma. Éponine winked at him and he seemed to relax a little. She saw Fantine and Dr. Valjean sitting in the front row of white chairs with Courf's parents. Floriana Elaina Courfeyrac was being held by Fantine. She saw Régis, Jackie, Adélaïde's family, and Adrienne in another row. Much of the rest of the chairs were filled with Les Amis and other students from the university.

Combeferre and Gabe, dressed very sharply in silver suits with yellow ties and tulip boutonnieres, were already in their places as groomsmen, leaving a space for Marius. There were two spaces next to the officiant, for Azelma and Éponine, and then Cosette, in a simple, yellow strapless dress with a silver, thick belt, and another of Azelma's friends, in a short, one strapped, silver dress with a ruffled edge. As they reached the centerpiece, Marius kissed Éponine's hand and went to his spot. Next came Julien, dressed similarly to the other men, carrying a pillow with the rings on it, and his sister with Rachelle's help. Hillaire was in a small yellow tutu dress with a silver belt and a large flower on one side. Rachelle had a silver ruffled dress with rhinestones scattered on it, and a bow in the back. They carried a basket with yellow and silver rose petals in it between them. After they reached the front, they went over to sit with R and Jehan.

Everyone's jaws dropped, except Éponine's, when Azelma walked through the gates with her little brother. Gavroche was dressed in a charcoal suit. Azelma's dress was beautiful, as was the rest of her, just as Éponine told her. It was a simple strapless dress, but the bodice had creases in it, making lines flow down her curves. The lines stopped just below her hips and then the silky material was just plain white, fanning out to flow behind her. Cosette had curled Azelma's auburn hair into perfect tendrils framing her face. She had very little make-up on, but it just accented the beauty lines already on her face.

Éponine looked over at the groom's face and watched tear roll down his face. He was so happy. Everyone was. Éponine couldn't help but think about how thankful she was for the last year and everything that had happened. She looked past the happy couple, who was now together and the ceremony was starting. Her boyfriend was already looking at her. He looked her up and down exaggeratedly and then lifted his eyebrows appreciatively. Éponine just smiled at him. She had to admit she felt pretty good in what she was wearing. She had pulled her hair half up and curled the rest of it. She had darker make-up on than she usually did. Her dress was strapless. The bodice was sequined to the extreme, and then gave way to a silver, flowy, full-length skirt. She also had heels on so that she was just as tall as her boyfriend, and just a little shorter than Marius.

The ceremony was flawless and emotional and wonderful. The wedding party took pictures afterwards, including some with the three Courfeyracs. Floriana was wrapped in a silver and yellow blanket, to match everyone else. She was very good during the ceremony, and never had to be taken out. Azelma fed Flor before we all went to the reception, which was just as beautiful as the garden. When Azelma threw the bouquet, it was caught between Grantaire, who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, Éponine, and Cosette. Grantaire snuck a glance at Jehan, Cosette beamed at Marius, and Éponine glared at Gabe, who was babysitting, and just shrugged.

She walked over to her boyfriend and the baby. She sat next to him, laying her head on his shoulder and watching the dance floor. Courf and Azelma had already gone back to each other. R and Jehan were sitting at another table, feeding each other desserts. Cosette and Marius were slow dancing. Rachelle, Gav, Hillaire, and Julien were dancing in a circle. Fantine and Valjean were sitting across the room, observing.

The baby cooed and Éponine looked down at her. She was flailing her arms around, so Gabe put his pinky in her fist. Éponine smiled at the sight. She turned her head and kissed her boyfriend's cheek.

"So we're next?" He said, smiling cheekily.

"Apparently. But I haven't been asked… So everyone's going to have to wait a while for the next one. Maybe R or Jehan will pluck up the guts first." She said, pouting coyishly.

"I highly doubt that." Gabe said before turning back to the baby.

"You're so good with her." Éponine said.

"That's good, I guess. Florie is my goddaughter. And I assume I'll be a real dad someday." He said.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Éponine reminded him.

"Eppy! Come dance with us!" Gavroche suddenly said, appearing in front of them. "Hi, Ana." Gav and Rachelle called her that, claiming that everyone else called her Flor, so they needed their own nickname. "You're too little to dance, but maybe you'll be big enough at Eppy and Gabe's wedding." He said, then clamped his hand over his mouth, looking bug-eyed at Gabe.

Éponine's eyes widened as she looked between her two boys. "Gav, do you know something I don't?" Éponine asked slowly. The boy frantically shook his head. "Gabe-"

"Ép, we can talk about this later. Go dance with the kids. We are not ruining Azelma's day with any serious talks." He said. Éponine did as requested, and pushed the exchange out of her mind.

At the end of the night, everyone was tired, and Éponine's feet were killing her. She, Gav, Gabe, and Flor made it back to their new house, a three bedroom, three and a half bath house with two stories fairly near to both campus and Gavroche's school. Gabe put Gavroche to bed while Éponine put the baby in the crib they had bought for her in the room right across the hall from their own. When she made it into the master bedroom, Gabe was waiting for her.

"Before you change, I want to talk for a minute." He said.

"Okay?" She said skeptically, sitting down on their bed and kicking off her heels.

"I know we just spent all day at a wedding, but I planned this with Gavroche weeks ago and the events of the day just made me want to do this even more."

"Gabe, what are you talking about?" She asked. He was pacing now. "Please, just sit down so we can talk. What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing." He said, still pacing.

"Oh, God. Gabe, please say I'm wrong." She said, suddenly becoming very concerned. She almost started crying at the thought of it. He just shook his head, he didn't say anything. "Gabe, please. Don't do this." She pleaded.

He jerked out of his nervousness to give her a weird glance. "What do you mean? Ép, I love you so much."

"Then why are you doing this? On the day of my sister's wedding! Why are you doing this to me? I thought we were happy how things were." She said, crying now.

"I thought this was what you wanted." He said.

"When did I indicate I wanted you to break up with me!" She cried, finally letting the tears fall down her face.

"Ép! Éponine! No! That's not what is happening. Stop crying. Please, don't cry." He said, wiping the tears off her face.

"If you're not breaking up with me, what's going on? Will you please tell me?" She asked quietly, after calming down.

"Éponine. I love you so much. Like I said, I was going to wait, but I don't think I can. I've been carrying this around for weeks, waiting for the perfect time. With graduation, and then Floriana being born, and now the wedding we haven't had much time, but I have to do it tonight. What I'm saying is what I've said a million times in the last year. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and Gavroche. I want to grow old with you. I want to see our children grow up with a wonderful mother. I want to marry you, Ép. So, Éponine Raina Thenardier Jondrette, would you do me the beautiful, wonderful, great honor, put me out of my misery, add another name to your four, and be my wife?" He asked.

He knelt to the ground in front of her and pulled a small, black velvet box out of his pocket. He opened it and Éponine gasped at the beautiful ring inside. The band was made out of very small stones and seemed to braid within itself. The square jewel on top had smaller ones surrounding it, all silver and white. She nodded, covering her face with her right hand and offering her left to her boyfriend. "Yes. Yes, God, yes! Gabriel Auguste Enjolras, I will marry you!" She said. He smiled broadly and slid the ring on her finger. He threw the box over his shoulder and hugged her tightly, lifting her up. While in the air, he kissed her soundly. She missed all the other sounds, but finally, as he was putting her back down, she heard the frantic clicking of a camera. She turned around to the bathroom door, where she saw Gavroche with Gabe's phone, taking picture after picture.

"You're supposed to be in bed." She tried to chastise, but she was smiling too widely. Her brother gave her his toothy grin.

"Gabe said I could stay up to watch! I'm so happy for you, Eppy!" He said.

"Come here." She said. The boy ran over to her, and she positioned them on the bed to take a Snapchat selfie. She took the picture with her right hand so she could hold up her left. They were all smiling so brightly in the picture. She quickly snapped it, saved it, and added the caption, I said yes!, before saving it again and sending it off to his story and to various of their friends. Responses flooded in, almost immediately, but Gabe turned his phone off. Gavroche went back to his room soon after, and the older students attacked each other, ripping off the other's clothes. Except for the ring.

* * *

Neither of them got much sleep that night, between the baby and their other activities, but Éponine still woke up fresh and ready for the day. Looking at the ring on her finger, she turned to look at her fiancé, and smiled. She was sure there would be more obstacles to overcome in the near future, but she was so happy in that moment. Everything was perfect and she wouldn't trade her life for any other.

**A/N: And that's a wrap! I'm so excited, but also extremely sad that it's over! I really like this chapter, and anyone who has read any of my stories knows I'm a sucker for happy endings. This is just such a bittersweet moment, I think I might cry.**

**As usual, I want all of your wonderful feedback. If there were any loose ends I didn't tie up, which I think I did a pretty good job of, let me know so I can be sure I include it in the sequel, which will happen, even if it has to wait a couple months. I told someone that I want the sequel to have a very loose story line and have most of it just be fluffy little chapters that move the plot slightly. I just love this universe I've created in this story and don't want to loose that. I also want an eventual story based around Gav and Rachelle because I think they're adorable.**

**The next story I am going to publish is going to be Enjonine (obviously). The storyline is kind of going to be based around Kiera Cass's Selection book series. I read these books in the past couple of months and I absolutely fell in love. I highly suggest it to anyone who likes Dystopian books or books like the Princess Diaries, which are two totally different things, but that is what these books remind me of. I have to make some tweaks to what I already have written, but hopefully I can get the first chapter up by the time I go back to college (August 17).**

**Anyway, the moral of this note is the story is now over and be sure to review, favorite, PM, etc. so that it gives me inspiration for the sequel and the next story I am going to put up. Even if you're reading this a long time from now, like 2020, or something, please still let me know your thoughts. I 3 feedback! I'll definitely post on here when I get the first chapter of the sequel up, but otherwise, updates on this story are over. I hope you all enjoyed immensely and I can't wait to give you some new stories to read. Thanks so much!**


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